


A Violet Dragon

by Rogue21



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, Minor Violence, Road Trip, Romance, There Is No War In Ba Sing Se
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:20:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 25,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27314695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogue21/pseuds/Rogue21
Summary: "I see in your future a Dragon,A heart of pure violet,Your destinies are linked,In heart, mind, and body."A tarot reading, a cup of tea, a bitter sibling fight, and a rock placed in an inconvenient spot, sends Sokka down a bizarre adventure to Ba Sing Se without the rest of Team Avatar, but instead Zuko and Iroh.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Jet/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 74
Kudos: 206





	1. One

“I think I’ll be happy if we never see a swamp again,” Sokka admitted as they finally saw a town ahead of them. It didn’t matter how many times you could get drenched with water, the swamp smell never left. The small Earth Kingdom town was fairly bustling and Sokka knew somewhere there would be a way to wash out the swamp stench. He bounded on ahead as Katara and Aang stayed behind to tie up Appa and look for news about an Earthbending master. As he scoured the market of the town, he spotted a purple tent, it was rich silk which meant imported goods, perhaps perfumes from the Fire Nation or other parts of the Earth Kingdom.

“A merchant, excellent,” Sokka said to himself with glee knowing within enough time he would be smelling fresh as a daisy. He pushed open the tent curtain and saw not a purveyor of perfumes or exotic spices, but an old woman sitting at a table with a pack of cards.

“I was expecting you, do sit,” the old woman said to Sokka. He raised an eyebrow in disbelief, this woman had been waiting for him, was she a relative of Aunt Wu perhaps?

“I doubt it, I was looking for a perfume merchant, I smell like swamp and I would like not to,” he informed her. The woman smiled and started to shuffle her card deck.

“Well then how about a trade, you sit down for a card reading and I’ll provide you with a scent that will wash away that swamp smell,” she offered. Sokka slowly approached the table and sat down, the old woman smiled.

“Just one reading, I don’t trust you fortune tellers, ever heard of an Aunt Wu?” he asked her. The old woman laughed, a crookedly awkward laugh and started to place cards down.

“Is she still peddling her old tricks, woman doesn’t know a sign from an omen,” she said.

“And you do?” Sokka challenged her. She eyed him with a sharp glance and placed down the card stack.

“It’s not about being able to predict the future lad, it’s about the interpretation, a man could reveal the Death Card and fear for his own demise but then have his house burn down and live, it is not a sign he will die, but that a new beginning can be birthed, you my lad, well…let’s see,” she said. Sokka timidly touched a card as the old woman turned it over, she smiled as he touched a second and a third.

“Well, well, The Lovers, The Sun reversed and The Fool, how interesting,” she said.

“What does it mean then?” Sokka asked.

“I see in your future a Dragon, a heart of pure violet, your destinies are linked in heart, mind, and body,” she said to him. He stared at her some more as her brow slightly furrowed.

“You will meet a dragon, conflicted, struggling, a heart that’s beating fast, you’re both linked in destiny, perhaps you have already met, perhaps you will meet soon, and your bodies will unite together,” she explained to him.

“Bodies united, alright then, can I have my perfume now?” he asked her. The old woman shook her head at his brashness and reached down into a basket beside her and pulled out a small decanter.

“Fire Lily from the Fire Nation, should wipe out that swamp smell,” she said. Sokka smiled graciously and stood up.

“Well thanks, here’s a tip for your time,” he said and tossed her a silver piece. The woman caught the coin and grinned. “I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for my Dragon.”

“Oh he’ll be closer than you think lad,” she said.

“You mean she’ll be,” he corrected her. The old lady said nothing in response as Sokka walked away from the tent. She tossed the coin and caught it, packing up the cards.

* * *

Out in the market, Sokka opened up the decanter and dabbed some of the Fire Lily onto his neck.

“Ow,” he cried as the perfume started to sting. He spotted Katara and Aang buying food for their journey and caught up with them.

“I have solved my smell problem, Fire Lily perfume, stings like mad though,” he said as he dabbed some more perfume on and winced from the pain.

“We used to have Fire Lilies at the Air Temple, beautiful flowers, really make a room smell good, some of the monks would grow flowers from all over the world,” Aang said to him.

“Sounds great, how long are we going to be in town for?” Sokka asked.

“Not for long, we’ll probably camp outside of town tonight, someone told us there’s an Earthbending school in Gaoling, so that’s our next stop before we go to Ba Sing Se, it’s a hike but we’ll be there in a few days at most,” Katara informed him. Sokka shrugged, so long as it was far away from any Firebenders that was good enough for him. He spotted an old man sitting on the floor against a building, he seemed quiet enough, but next to him was a small open bag with three coins in. Sokka wandered over and looked down at the old man.

“Ah hello young man, care to help an old man buy a nice cup of tea?” the old man asked him.

“What kind?” Sokka asked curiously, he normally declined to help the homeless but Aang was always giving them hope and telling them things would be okay, so why not show a little kindness?

“If you can get it, Jasmine or Ginseng, Ginseng is my favourite,” the old man said. Sokka shrugged and walked into the tea shop nearby.

“Do you have Jasmine or Ginseng?” he asked the tea shop owner.

“Sure do what would you like?” the shop owner replied.

“Ginseng please,” he said and handed over the coins. The shop owner started to brew as he Sokka mulled over the tarot reading, it was a very weird one at that, a violet dragon.

“Dragons don’t exist anymore,” he muttered to himself.

“Here you are one Ginseng,” the tea shop owner said handing him the cup of Ginseng. Sokka shook his head slightly and took the cup. He took it outside and handed it to the old man. He took a sip and sighed contently.

“Thank you, a polite young man like you, your father must be proud,” the old man said.

“Yeah, thanks I guess, enjoy the tea,” Sokka said and started to walk away from the old man.

“I shall,” the old man muttered as he sipped his tea, subtly using his hands to keep the cup hot.

* * *

That evening, Sokka, Katara, Aang and Appa camped outside of town, Sokka lay down on his bedroll thinking about his reading.

“Katara you believe in that stupid fortune stuff, if a fortune teller told you you’d meet a violet dragon whose body would unite with you what would you say?” he asked her.

“Did you get a reading, you Mister Sceptic,” Kata said with a chuckle.

“What kind of reading was it?” Aang asked as he spun his marbles around in the air.

“The one with the cards.”

“What cards did you pick?” Katara asked him.

“The Lovers, the Sun reversed, and the Fool, but there was nothing about a dragon,” Sokka explained.

“Probably that your future wife is as goofy as you and from the Fire Nation,” Aang guessed.

“Or that you’re going to marry an actual dragon, imagine the kids,” Katara said and started to laugh. Sokka growled and sat up.

“It’s not funny Katara, she didn’t even get the gender right, she said the dragon’s a dude,” Sokka told her.

“Oh then my mistake, your future husband then is as goofy as you,” Aang said. Sokka growled again.

“Look you guys all believe in this junk, why are you making fun of me now, I only did the reading so I could get rid of this swamp smell, wait…where’s my Fire Lily perfume,” Sokka cried, reaching for his decanter. He started to frantically search and then turned to Katara, who was looking rather guilty.

“Katara…what did you do with my Fire Lily perfume?” he asked her.

“Well…” she began.

“Katara.”

“I wanted to try it out so I tried to bend a tiny drop out of it but then Momo got caught under my feet and…I dropped the vial and it broke,” she said her smile turning down in guilt.

“How could you take my stuff without asking!” he shouted at her.

“I just wanted to try it,” she shouted back into self-defence.

“No, I needed that perfume, I can’t bend all my problems away like you two, I have to be a realist, and that was MY perfume, you know what I’m out of here, you go off and find Aang and amazing Earthbending master and have all sorts of bending adventures, I’m going to fight the Fire Nation with dad because at least I know I’m needed there!” Sokka exploded and started to storm away.

“Fine, you big baby, don’t expect us to be here when you come back!” Katara shouted back. Sokka walked, and walked, not caring that the thicket he had found himself walking into was getting rockier, muttering profanities.

“Should have left a long time ago, they don’t need me,” Sokka muttered to himself as he started to hack through the thicket with his machete. He swung his machete getting it caught in a tree, he pulled hard to get it out of the thick trunk and stumbled from the force.

“Woah!” he called out as he fell forward and down a rocky slope. He rolled down the hill, his arm getting struck by a sharp rock as he cried out in pain and then came headfirst with a rock and fell unconscious at the bottom of the slope.


	2. Two

“Enjoy the tea.”

“I shall,” Iroh muttered as he watched Sokka walk away, boy didn’t even recognise him from the stint in the Northern Water Tribe, but it was better than attacking him. He sipped his tea as Zuko returned from having a wander about town.

“Where did you get the tea uncle?” he inquired as he sat next to him.

“A nice young man bought me a cup, kindness is a rarity but it’s an important lesson, one good turn deserves another, if someone offers you kindness, do not hesitate to offer kindness back, it would be wise if we want to make it to Ba Sing Se,” Iroh told him. Zuko sighed and leaned back. They had been on the road for a few weeks now, and Iroh was insistent on getting to Ba Sing Se.

“What is waiting for us there in Ba Sing Se?” Zuko asked him.

“A fresh start Zuko, you have spent the last three years doing nothing but chasing a destiny that you probably don’t even understand yourself yet, perhaps the road to Ba Sing Se will make you find your inner truth,” Iroh said.

“The Ginseng has gone to your head uncle, we’ll probably leave tonight,” he said. Zuko was tired, he wasn’t sure why but he was.

“Why don’t you amuse yourself by visiting that fortune teller tent, I’m going to scrounge up for money for the road,” Iroh suggested. Zuko sighed and stood up, might as well. He walked over to the tent and walked inside.

“Welcome, why don’t you sit for a reading lad?” the old woman asked Zuko. He said nothing in return and sat down as she began to shuffle the cards, he scrutinised her technique as she placed the cards down.

“What good are cards?” he asked.

“It’s not about being able to predict the future lad, it’s about the interpretation,” she told him. Zuko touched three cards as she turned them over and chuckled.

“Well, well, what a day, The Lovers, The Devil reversed, and The World, you my boy are destined for greatness,” she said. Zuko’s eyes lit up at the word greatness.

“Will I restore my honour?” he asked her eagerly. The old woman laughed.

“A wolf will fall into your path, your destinies will intertwine as well as your hearts the wolf is your liberator,” she said.

“My liberator?” Zuko asked her.

“Oh yes…he will set you free,” she added. Zuko’s eyebrow raised at her comment.

“He?”

“He, it’s just what I see, feel free to interpret how you wish,” she said to him. Zuko stood up, paused for a moment and turned to leave.

“I will think on this reading, thank you,” he said politely. The old woman smiled as he left and started to pack up the cards.

“Predict that Aunt Wu,” she muttered to herself smugly.

* * *

The evening was drawing in as Iroh and Zuko left town and headed towards the thicket to set up camp, secluded and no one would see their firebending.

“So did the teller give you a good fortune?” Iroh asked as they walked.

“I would meet a wolf who would liberate me and intertwine with my heart, I don’t know what it means,” Zuko told him.

“Hmm, tarot readings are rarely literal Zuko, most of the time, they are up to your interpretation,” he replied.

“That’s what the teller said.”

“What cards did you draw?” Iroh asked him curiously.

“The Lovers, The Devil reversed, and The World.”

“Ah, a love reading, those are good ones, evidently it is love that will set you free,” Iroh said.

“Who would love me, I’m a disgraced prince, no honour, no Avatar, I’m homeless and I haven’t bathed in a week, not even Mai would look my way,” Zuko said.

“You’d be surprised what flaws people overlook,” Iroh advised him as they found a clearing near a rock slip. “This will do, we’ll set up camp for tonight, what sort of tea would you like?”

“Whatever you can find is perfect uncle,” Zuko answered. He sat down to start firebending some kindling and make a small fire when he heard a thud behind him. He turned and saw someone lying on the ground, unconscious. “Uncle.” Iroh looked up and gasped.

“Quick, check if he’s alright,” Iroh ordered. Zuko approached the person and turned them over, he gasped, Sokka, out cold and a nasty gash on his forehead.

“He’s out cold, and I think his arm is broken,” he said to Iroh.

“Bring him to the bedroll.” Zuko picked up Sokka taking him over to the bedroll and placing him down, Sokka being here meant the Avatar was near, he wanted to leave to find him, he should, but this was a bad situation and Sokka needed help.

“Zuko, get the bandages and medicine pouch.” Zuko did as ordered, finding the supplies and heading them to his uncle as he started to treat Sokka’s injuries.

“What should I do uncle?” Zuko asked him.

“His entire arm is damaged, first thing we have to do is pop his shoulder back in, the pain might cause shock and wake him up, so I need you to keep him calm,” Iroh explained as he heated his hands up.

“How do I do that?”

“Put his head in your lap, place yours hands on the side of his face and use the Calming Mind technique, it should keep him calm while I treat his arm,” Iroh said. Zuko obliged, placing Sokka’s head in his lap, he could sense him stirring from the pain and placed his hands on the sides of Sokka’s face. He breathed out and began to focus. Sokka remained still as Iroh started to treat his arm, but as Zuko focused, he started to hear Sokka mutter.

“Dragon…body…violet…” Zuko was slightly confused but remained focused as Iroh finished up his work.

“Alright, I’ve done the best I can do, I need you bandage his arm and shoulder and put it in a sling and clean up his head wound, I’ll start making tea,” Iroh said. Zuko lay Sokka back on the bedroll and picked up the bandage. He started to bandage Sokka’s arm and fixed the sling around him, keeping his arm elevated.

“Will he be okay?” Zuko asked as he started to treat Sokka’s head wound.

“He’ll have a headache, but he should be fine,” Iroh answered. Zuko looked down at Sokka’s who lay there, still muttering to himself. He sat at the fire, keeping it lit as Iroh made tea for them.

* * *

It was approaching dawn as Sokka opened his eyes, he felt a pounding in his head as he tried to adjust his vision and saw Iroh meditating and Zuko sleeping. He panicked and tried to move before he felt excruciating pain and saw his arm was in a sling.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you, you had a nasty fall there,” Iroh said.

“Hey, you’re the old man I bought tea for,” Sokka said realising who it was as he tried to sit up.

“Yes, it was quite good tea, not perfect but perfect tea is an art,” Iroh informed him.

“And so is penguin sledding if you do it right,” Sokka muttered. Zuko stirred and rolled over, he was looking different, his ponytail was gone and he had very short hair, the scar was still there, can’t hide that.

“He helped keep you calm while I fixed your dislocated shoulder, best you weren’t awake for that,” Iroh said.

“I need to get back to Aang and Katara, we have to find an Earthbending master, and to warn them Zuko is here,” Sokka said wanting to get up but feeling like his legs were too heavy to move.

“When you’ve had tea, food, and we make sure your arm is okay, there’ll be time to get back to your friends, we’re not interested in the Avatar, we’re going to Ba Sing Se,” Iroh said to him finishing his meditation.

“Why, so you can take it over for the Fire Nation?” Sokka asked accusingly. Iroh merely laughed.

“I tried and failed that a long time ago, no we’re going for a fresh start, I think my nephew could use the time away from chasing your friends, if he stops to listen instead of always running, he’ll soon come to realise his true destiny,” he answered. Sokka looked at Zuko’s sleeping form and back to Iroh who was now stoking the fire to brew a pot of tea.

“Let him sleep for now, he spent most of the night keeping a watch on you,” Iroh said. Sokka was surprised and sat up examining the damage on his arm. He wondered how he would explain this to Katara and Aang, if they would even believe that Zuko and Iroh had helped him.

“Why did you help me?” Sokka asked as Iroh poured the tea.

“You helped me, and I believe one good turn deserved another,” he answered. Sokka couldn’t believe it, a man of the Fire Nation showing kindness to him, pouring him tea, tending his wounds, and Zuko was his nephew. Sokka couldn’t believe it, even as he would glance at the sleeping Prince who would occasionally turn. It was strange to Sokka.

“I have to get back to my friends,” he said as Iroh handed him a cup and sat down.

“And warn them the dreaded Prince Zuko is close by and will kidnap the Avatar right?” he said.

“It’s not that far-fetched, you did chase us all the way to the North Pole,” Sokka pointed out. Iroh laughed as he sipped his tea.

“I suppose, tell you what, when my nephew wakes up, I’ll walk you back to your friends, give you a head start,” Iroh suggested. Sokka liked the idea of that.


	3. Three

Zuko opened his eyes and sat up on his bedroll, Sokka and Iroh were drinking tea and talking. As he sat up to make his presence to them known, Iroh turned to him and waved him over.

“You’re awake, good, we’ve been having a chat,” Iroh told him. Zuko scowled at Sokka slightly and crawled over to the fire.

“With my enemy, I’m sure it was pleasant,” Zuko commented.

“Well you’re no peach yourself Zuko,” Sokka retorted. Zuko balled his fist, he ought to punch him for his insolence.

“How is your arm?” Zuko asked cordially, loosening his fist, he can punch him another day.

“Hurts like hell, it’s going to be fun explaining this to Katara and Aang, if they haven’t left that is,” Sokka answered as he rubbed his arm. “So I should probably get going.” Sokka stood up, stretching his legs.

“Yes, you must find an Earthbending master, and we have a city to get to,” Iroh agreed. “Zuko, have something to eat and start packing up while I take our friend here back to his camp, I promised him a head start.” Zuko smirked at the notion of a head start.

“I’ll start counting,” he muttered as Iroh and Sokka left the small campsite.

* * *

As Sokka and Iroh returned the Avatar’s camp, Sokka relayed to Iroh the fight he had with Katara.

“And then I told her I was going to find dad, it’s kind of hard feeling useful when you have no bending skills at all,” he said to Iroh.

“Don’t sell yourself short, a person’s worth doesn’t come from their ability to bend elements or their honour, it comes from their spirit,” Iroh explained.

“I guess, but I can’t shake the feeling that I have no skills, and what do I have to show my worth, a boomerang and a Wolf helmet,” Sokka said. Iroh paused for a brief moment.

“A Wolf helmet?” he repeated.

“Yes, it’s a symbol of our tribe, warriors wear Wolf helmets into battle,” Sokka pointed out. Iroh contemplated before a grin appeared on his face.

“Well a Wolf, how interesting,” he said.

“There’s the camp, perhaps Katara will listen to re-,” Sokka stopped. The campfire was out, all his stuff was still on the ground but Katara, Aang, Momo and Appa were all gone.

“They’re gone, they actually left!” Sokka said in shock. He thought Katara would have known he wasn’t sincere.

“Looks like they already got a head start, what are you going to do now?” Iroh asked him. Sokka had no clue, except for Gaoling and Ba Sing Se.

“Where was it you said you were going to?” Sokka asked Iroh.

“Ba Sing Se.”

“Then that’s where we meet them, see if they can handle the trip without me,” Sokka said going to his things, he still had the Earth Kingdom map, his boomerang, bedroll, his Wolf helmet, and some money. “Especially as they don’t have the map.”

“Then we best get moving, it’s a long way to Ba Sing Se,” Iroh said.

They returned to the camp which was now cleared out and Zuko was practicing his technique, his concentration broke when he spotted Sokka was still there.

“I thought he was leaving,” Zuko commented.

“I thought so too, but apparently my sister called my bluff and left without me, so now I am alone,” Sokka said dramatically.

“And coming to Ba Sing Se with us,” Iroh said with glee.

“You cannot be serious uncle, what good would it do to bring him along?” Zuko asked him in surprise, he was hoping to see the back of Sokka not spend more time with him.

“Because I have a map and money, what do you have?” Sokka retorted as he held up the Earth Kingdom map. Zuko said nothing in response, he had no money nor a map to get to Ba Sing Se so Sokka had beaten him on those accounts. He scowled at the Water Tribe boy, then his eyes drifted down to the Wolf helmet in his hands, he studied it for a moment, Sokka had worn it before back in the South Pole. His eyes looked up at Sokka and his scowl loosened into a frown and he sighed.

“Fine, he can come with us, but if you make even the tiniest mistake, I will see to it that you never see the South Pole again,” Zuko said with a threatening tone to Sokka, who merely shrugged in reply.

“Whatever, we should get moving while the sun’s still rising, we have a lot of ground to cover,” Sokka said. Iroh chuckled at the two teenagers who were awkwardly trying to look over the map to plot their next course.

“They don’t even realise it yet,” he muttered to himself as Sokka pointed ahead of him into the thicket.

* * *

The journey was slow to start as they met with a physician to check on Sokka’s arm. Broken, and dislocated, would need time to recover, but his fighting abilities wouldn’t suffer. The day was spent walking along a long road that would lead onto several small farming communities before heading deeper into thick forest and the edge of the desert. Sokka and Zuko barely spoke, Iroh would monologue about his youth to spark conversation but nothing was interesting to Sokka and Zuko had heard it all. Finally as the sun began to set and the settled down to camp on the edge of the road at small shrine, Iroh had a story to tell.

“Have you boys ever heard of the Ruby Fire?” Iroh asked them as they sat down for dinner.

“No what is it, some mystical firebending technique?” Sokka asked.

“A mystical treasure that is connected to ancient firebending techniques?” Zuko asked. Iroh laughed at their answers.

“No, it is a love story, tales of my youth certainly weren’t interesting enough for you so I thought this story might get your attention. A very long time ago during the time of Avatar Mako, there was a boy from the Northern Water Tribe and a girl from the Fire Nation, the boy was sent to the Fire Nation to recover some stolen Waterbending scrolls that had been seized by pirates, during his quest to retrieve the scrolls, the girl fell into his path also on a quest to retrieve the scrolls, when he questioned her why, she told him that the Avatar was requesting them for training and she promised to deliver, but before they could arrive, pirates had stolen them, the boy offered to help on the condition that when the Avatar was done with the scrolls he return them to the Northern Water Tribe. The girl agreed and together they went to rescue the scrolls,” Iroh told them.  
“I think I’ve heard of this story before, gran told me the story when I was a kid, didn’t the-,” Sokka began before Zuko shushed him.

“Don’t spoil it,” he whispered. Iroh smiled and continued:

“The two of them confronted the pirates and started to do battle, the boy noted the way the girl would handle her fire with precision but grace and she noted how his Waterbending was swift but also sharp with each flick of his wrist. Together they defeated the pirates and recovered, not just the Waterbending scrolls, but a sum of Water Tribe treasures the pirates had stolen as well, the girl thanked the boy for his help and they returned to the Avatar with the scrolls and treasure. Mako was pleased to see them with the scrolls and when the girl explained what had happened, Mako offered to give the boy the chance to stay with him and the girl and train with him. He accepted, sending the treasure back to his tribe with a letter explaining that he was training with the Avatar.”

“And then what uncle?” Zuko asked curiously, where was the romance?

“As they trained with Avatar Mako, the boy and the girl began to teach each other their styles of bending, how to carry fire like a Waterbender and vice versa, as many weeks of training together, feelings began to blossom, coming to fruition when they met under the cover of night in the palace gardens, they had been invited to the palace by the Fire Lord along with the Avatar for a party.” Iroh continued.

“If you’re going to tell this part can you please not go into too much detail, gran went into too much detail,” Sokka said remembering the time he overheard gran telling the story to the women of the tribe a few years back and it wasn’t the version he’d heard as a kid.

“They walked through the gardens, watching the Turtle-Ducks play with each other and came to a bridge where the boy finally confessed his love for her, when the Avatar was done with the Waterbending scrolls, he returned them to the Northern Water Tribe and the two young lovers stayed in the Fire Nation, some say there is a family in the Fire nation where Waterbending and Firebending runs in their blood and they can master both elements, of course, it’s just legend,” Iroh said as he concluded the story.

“Was there a lesson to this story or did you just want to entertain us?” Zuko asked.

“There’s a lesson, but I’m going to let you figure that out, otherwise you won’t have learnt anything,” Iroh explained. “Now we should sleep, you need to rest your arm and you need to practice in the morning before we leave.” Sokka and Zuko obliged and laid down to sleep on their bedrolls. Sokka glanced at Zuko who rolled away from him, he turned onto his side and closed his eyes. Gran told that story very differently, too much detail.


	4. Four

The next few days that transpired were quiet and dull. Passing through several towns, not much had been happening, it seemed better in Sokka’s opinion, he wasn’t getting dragged into whatever tomfoolery Aang and Katara had managed to find, Iroh had a few pieces of wisdom to share and he was slowly warming to Zuko, even managed to share a joke with him which cracked a smile on the Prince’s face. One morning as they camped nearby a stream, Sokka watched as Zuko practiced his firebending technique.

“Is it hard to master firebending?” Sokka asked.

“If you have no experience yes, fire is dangerous, hard to control, you must focus on its movement,” Zuko answered as he punched forward.

“Can anyone bend?”

“It’s not something anyone can do,” Zuko said.

“Don’t be so sure nephew, anyone can use the techniques of bending, even if they cannot bend the elements,” Iroh told them.

“What does that mean?” Sokka asked.

“It means that even though I am a Firebender, I can use the technique of Waterbending, and I can redirect lightning,” Iroh said.

“Lightning, it’s possible?” Zuko asked with intrigue.

“Indeed, Sokka I believe even you could utilise bending techniques with your skills, you have a sword right?”

“I do,” Sokka answered.

“Then I shall teach you, if you wish,” Iroh offered. Sokka thought on the offer, could it help with his swordsman skills?

“I’ll think about it,” he said and opened up the map. “We’re on course for Ba Sing Se, but part of our journey involves going through the Si Wong desert, then we’ll be coming up to the Serpent’s Pass which leads to Ba Sing Se.”

“Well it’s still a long journey, Zuko why don’t you and Sokka go and collect the supplies for the desert while I make tea, give you two a chance to talk,” Iroh said. Zuko glanced at Sokka and sighed. He didn’t want to talk to Sokka, he would just say nonsense.

“Fine,” he said reluctantly.

“Fine,” Sokka agreed. He wasn’t fond of the idea of spending alone time with Zuko, much less having to get supplies with him.

“And take your time, good tea takes time to brew,” Iroh encouraged them as he gestured for them to get going into the town.

* * *

Zuko and Sokka walked into town with an awkward silence, the town was also quiet; a lot of them were quieter the further they venture into the Earth Kingdom.

“I can’t believe how many people are leaving all these towns,” Zuko said finally, breaking the silence.

“It’s not surprising, the Fire Nation is causing devastation, everyone’s leaving because they’re afraid of what’ll happen if they’re caught or worse,” Sokka commented.

“You understand their plight,” Zuko noted.

“Of course I do, the Fire Nation came to our tribe for years taking our Waterbenders, my father is out there fighting against your fathers forces, for all your talk about understanding their plight, what I can’t understand is why you spent so long trying to do your father’s bidding, what kind of a person could accept that genocide, imprisonment is good?” Sokka asked him strongly. Zuko scowled and grabbed Sokka’s arm.

“I know what kind of a person he is, he’s the kind of man who would burn a hideous scar into his own son’s face because he said no to fighting him in Agni Kai, who would banish him and send him off to find a lost legend, the kind of man who couldn’t give a damn that his own wife abandoned his family in the middle of the night, the kind of man who doesn’t even hug his own children, that’s the kind of man my father is, what kind is yours,” he told Sokka, staring him down. Sokka paused and glanced down.

“My father is a good man who loves his children and will do anything to protect them, even when he couldn’t protect their mother,” he said in a low voice. Zuko’s hard stare softened, he loosened his grip on Sokka and ran his hand slowly up his arm where it came to rest on Sokka’s shoulder.

“Then you’re already a better man than I am Sokka,” he said and let go. He continued to walk into the town where he spotted a merchant. Sokka quickly followed, feeling like a barrier had broken between them, that wasn’t anger but sadness in his tone, a bitter and broken voice that felt alone in the world.

“What’ll it be boys?” the merchant asked the two of them.

“Any food for the road, we’re venturing into the Si Wong desert,” Sokka said.

“Si Wong desert, you’re going to need a lot of water for that place and cured meats and salt, let me put something together,” the merchant said and started to put a package of food together. “How many of you travelling?”

“Three of us,” Zuko said.

“Alright,” the merchant answered as Sokka started placing coins down on the stall. The town was quiet but Sokka could sense three men staring at the two of them.

“Three men to the left, don’t look, let’s buy the food and leave and see if they follow,” Sokka whispered to Zuko. Zuko nodded in response as the merchant finished packing.

“Well this will cover your journey, there is an Oasis on the edge of the desert that you ought to stop at before you really get into the desert, they might have transport,” the merchant advised.

“Thanks,” Sokka said taking the pack of supplies. Zuko and Sokka left the stall, returning to the entrance of the town, Sokka could sense the three men were now following them.

“Alright they’re following, I’m going to need you to lead them away while I get this back to your uncle, think you can do that?” Sokka asked Zuko.

“What would you have me do with them?” Zuko wondered.

“Ask why they’re following us,” Sokka answered.

* * *

As they reached the edge of the town, Sokka quickly ducked behind a wall as Zuko turned out of town heading to the woods. The three men followed him and he led them towards the woods away from their campsite. As he reached the woods, Zuko stopped and turned around, hiding a small flame behind his back.

“Can I help you?” he asked them politely.

“Yeah, see we noticed you look an awful lot like that bounty poster we found, where’s your friend?” one of the men said.

“He left,” Zuko answered.

“Aw, well isn’t that heart-breaking for you, because now he can’t defend you from us,” the second man said producing a dagger. Zuko chuckled and threw the flame along the ground sending a wall of fire towards the three men. They all leapt away from the flames as Zuko readied his next attack.

“I don’t need someone to fight my battles, you can all leave and no one gets hurt or you can try and bring a knife to a fire fight,” Zuko warned them. The first man growled as they all drew weapons.  
“Get him!” he shouted. Zuko threw another flame to push them back as he started to run. As he dashed past one of the men, they reached out and latched onto his arm, dragging him to the floor. Zuko struggled as the three of them surrounded him and held him down, stronger than his attempts to resist their grasps.

“What say boys, dead, alive, or destroyed?” the first man said. The second grinned and tore Zuko’s robe, exposing his back.

“Destroy him and carve a little reminder into him,” he said. Zuko’s struggled harder as the two man started to cut the robe further. Suddenly a boomerang cut through the air, knocking the dagger from his hand, it proceeded to hit the other two men before sailing back to Sokka’s hand where he stood with Iroh.

“Let. Him. Go!” Sokka ordered. Iroh stood calm, staring at the three men.

“Listen to him boys, let the boy go and none of you will come to harm from us,” Iroh said. The man refused and grabbed Zuko, pulling his head up.

“Shall we make them watch?” he asked. Iroh held up his hand to Sokka as he sucked in a breath and then released a large plume of flames from his mouth at the three men.

“You dare hurt my nephew, I have roasted smaller men for pettier crimes, now, let him go!” Iroh ordered as he readied a fighting stance. The man growled and let go of Zuko, his two cronies following.

“We’ll leave, but if we ever see you three again, you’re all dead, you hear me,” the man threatened them. Iroh smiled and threw a fireball, the force knocking the man backwards. Zuko used this chance to run towards Sokka and Iroh. The three men started to flee as Iroh looked at his nephew to see him clutching Sokka in a tight hug, his robe in shreds.

“I don’t know what they would have done to me,” he muttered letting go of Sokka. Iroh lowered his head as he gently hugged Zuko who now moved to his uncle.

“I think I know what they would have done,” Sokka said. “Come on we should get moving before they return with more men.”


	5. Five

Zuko was quiet as they reached the Si Wong desert, any attempts to start conversations were shut down by silence. Iroh knew he was processing what had transpired and decided to give him time. Zuko had stopped practicing his firebending, he would only eat, drink, sleep and stay quiet. As the grasses melded into sand and they arrived at the Si Wong desert one evening, Zuko finally said something.

“Thank you,” he finally said to Sokka as Iroh started his evening meditation on their first night in the desert.

“Well…you’re welcome Zuko,” Sokka said.

“I keep remembering it, I felt so weak against them, I’ve survived harsher things but that, I felt so helpless not even my fire could have helped,” Zuko said to him. Sokka wanted to say something to help him, but he had no idea what to say, Katara was better at this than him.

“Well…at least you’re okay, and your uncle seemed ready to kill them,” Sokka said. Zuko said nothing and sighed.

“You don’t need to try,” he said and kicked the sand. Sokka then had an idea.  
“Come with me, we’re going to take a walk,” he said and gestured for Zuko to follow him.

* * *

They walked a little further into the desert where they came to a high sand bank, Sokka then handed his boomerang to Zuko.

“Sometimes when I need to vent, I will take my boomerang, and as I throw it, I will yell something into the void and then when the boomerang returns, I feel a little better, give it a try,” Sokka suggested. Zuko looked at the boomerang and then aimed.

“Fuck you dad!” Zuko yelled as he flung the boomerang. The boomerang sailed through the air.

“Well…that works,” Sokka said with surprise. Zuko cracked a small smile before he saw the boomerang coming back, he reached out to grab it as it sailed past his hand and smacked him in the head. Zuko fell backwards into the sand from the shock. “Ow,” he muttered as Sokka started laughing.

“Rule number one, if it’s coming for your head, duck,” he advised him reaching his hand out to Zuko. Zuko grabbed it as Sokka helped him up and found himself smiling.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied, they laughed before they fell into a comfortable silence. “How do you think your sister is faring without you?”

“She can handle herself, she and Aang are probably already in Ba Sing Se rubbing elbows with the King and learning Earthbending,” Sokka replied. “You got any siblings?”

“I have a sister…she’s kind of mean,” Zuko answered.

“Define mean.”  
“She would always try and hurt the Turtle-Ducks in the royal gardens, I didn’t like it when she went near them so one day I blocked a rock she tried to throw at the mother Turtle-Duck and then she laughed when it hit me,” Zuko told him.

“So that kind of mean, she must be a real piece of- Ow!” Sokka cried out as he stood on a cactus plant. “Ow, ow, ow, ow!”

“Are you okay?” Zuko asked as Sokka hopped backwards and knocked into Zuko, they both collapsed to the ground before busting out laughing. They both sat up still laughing and Zuko for the first time noticed that Sokka’s laugh was pretty nice to hear. “You’re an alright buy Sokka, you know that?”

“You think so, most people think I’m either annoying,” Sokka replied.

“No I think you’re pretty cool,” Zuko said with a smile. Sokka smiled back and patted Zuko’s shoulder.

“You’re alright too Zuko,” he said. He saw the smile on Zuko’s face fading. “But are you okay, I mean really?” Zuko sighed and shook his head.

“No, I just remember their hands on me, a horrible feeling, they ripped my robe, I feared the worst,” Zuko told him. Sokka shuffled closer to him.

“Yeah, I’ve seen what the worst can be,” he said remembering the raids on his tribe.

“Sokka, why are you being nice to me, after everything I’ve done, everything I put you and your sister through, you’re being nice to me,” Zuko said.

“Because that’s what a friend does, right?” Sokka reached out and touched Zuko’s scar feeling along the burn. “And friends don’t let their friends suffer in silence.” The light began to shift as a cloud moved out of the way and the moon started to shine down brightly on them. Sokka glanced up and let go of Zuko. Was She watching them?

“We should get back to your uncle,” he said standing up. Zuko agreed and followed him back to their camp where Iroh was now asleep.

* * *

The next morning, it was hot and dry as Iroh, Sokka and Zuko made their way through the sand towards Misty Palm Oasis, to help them stay undercover, Sokka used his arm wraps to cover Zuko’s scar.

“If anyone asks, you say you were burned when the Fire Nation raided your village,” Sokka told him.

“And if anyone asks, our names are Mushi and Lee, I don’t think we’ll be in the desert for too long though, I have a hunch we’ll be on our way to Ba Sing Se very soon,” Iroh said to them.

“Ooh alter-ego’s, alright then my name is Wang,” Sokka said proudly. Zuko chuckled at the name.

“Wang,” he said.

“Yes, what’s wrong with that?” Sokka asked. Zuko said nothing, the jokes were too many in his head.

“Let’s get moving boys,” Iroh called to them. They headed into the Misty Palm Oasis where it was scarce except for bounty hunters as they went into the small tavern. Iroh noticed there Pai Sho table and diverted his attention towards it.

“Why don’t you boys get a drink while I partake in my favourite pastime,” Iroh suggested as he left them. Sokka then noticed the wanted posters for Zuko and Iroh on the wall.

“Keep your head down low, you’ve got a wanted poster,” Sokka whispered to Zuko gesturing to the poster which had capture the attention of a couple bounty hunters.

“Let’s stay quiet then,” Zuko said as he and Sokka sat at a table.

* * *

Iroh played Pai Sho for the rest of the day until evening started to fall, occasionally taking a break to have some food or a drink, Sokka and Zuko had never been more bored and had started to narrate the inner thoughts of the bartender.

“Another coconut drink for the gentlemen, I wonder how my imaginary wife and kids are handling this hot weather,” Sokka said.  
“Terribly, they have been stuck in the desert for weeks now investigating the golden cactus mythos, perhaps one day I shall glint upon the golden needle and use it to finally reach that itch,” Zuko added before they both started laughing. “I am so bored, I don’t know how uncle does it.”

“Boys, my associate here is going to give us boarding for the night, but I have noted some bounty hunters that came in have been observing us for some time now, why don’t you start a little distraction so we can get out of here,” Iroh told them.

“Say no more, I know how to get us out of here,” Sokka said as he stood up and walked to the bar where the bounty hunters stood.

“There’s a Firebender in the bar, get him!” Sokka shouted and pointed to a random guy at the bounty board.

“Get him!” the bounty hunter shouted as he ran towards the poor stranger. A brawl started to ensure as Iroh and Zuko slipped out of the bar with Iroh’s associate, Sokka followed as the sound of fighting continued.

“Worked a treat,” Sokka said proud of his work.

“Not too shabby Sokka,” Iroh said impressed as they were led to a small flower shop.

“A high-ranking member of the Order of the White Lotus here, well whatever it is you need I’ll be happy to oblige,” the man said to Iroh.

“What’s the Order of the White Lotus?” Sokka asked.

“A flower arranging society?” Zuko suggested.

“Pay no attention to Zuko, he has no appreciation for the cryptic arts,” Iroh said as the man approached the door at the back of the flower shop and it opened. The man and Iroh stepped in before Iroh turned to Sokka and Zuko. “Sorry boys, but it is members only, you two can keep each other company while I speak with my associate.” And shut the door. Zuko and Sokka looked at each other.

“Well, looks like we’re locked in an enclosed space for tonight, what do you want to do then?” Sokka asked Zuko.

“Anything but play Pai Sho,” he answered.


	6. Six

Zuko and Sokka sat on the floor as they waited for Iroh to return.

“How is your arm?” Zuko asked him.

“It’s hurting less with each day, whatever your uncle puts in my tea is really helping,” Sokka said as he looked at his still bandaged arm. “What do you think we’ll do when we get to Ba Sing Se?”

“Probably go our separate ways, if your sister and the Avatar are there, I’m sure they’d love to hear the story of how you got to the city without them,” Zuko said.

“Maybe, what might you do?”

“Live, get a job, who knows, perhaps living a humble life in the Earth Kingdom will be better than a lavish rich lifestyle in the Fire Nation,” Zuko replied.  
“Maybe I’ll find a girlfriend there…maybe…” Sokka stopped and Zuko could sense something had saddened him.   
“What is it?” he asked.

“In the Northern Water tribe, there was this girl Yue, I really liked her and…I lost her before I even had a chance with her, she gave her life to become the Moon Goddess but…we did get to share a kiss at least once,” Sokka said.

“The Princess, I remember seeing the Moon turn bright, it seems she did a very noble thing,” Zuko replied.

“I guess, last night in the desert, I felt her presence, almost as if she was watching me, watching us,” Sokka said.

“If she was, what do you think it meant?” Zuko asked him.

“That maybe it’s okay to move on, to like other people, to feel comfortable, even if it’s with someone you’re not supposed to like,” Sokka said his hand resting on the floor. Zuko glanced down, cautiously moving his hand over Sokka’s.

“Nothing wrong with that,” Zuko said. Sokka turned his hand around under Zuko’s and grasped it, interlocking their fingers.

“No, there isn’t.” Zuko’s hand was warm, was it from the firebending?

“Sokka I need to tell you some-,” Zuko began before the door to the back of the flower shop opened and Iroh stepped out. Sokka and Zuko both let go of each other, scrambling to their feet.

“Good news boys, we’ll be going to Ba Sing Se under the guise as refugees, passports have been arranged for us using our aliases,” Iroh said handing them Earth Kingdom passports.

“Lee Tao?” Zuko read.

“Wang Fu,” Sokka said causing a chuckle from Zuko.

“And I am Mushi Tao, Lee is my nephew and you are Lee’s orphaned friend I have graciously taken in out of the goodness of my heart,” Iroh said. “These will get us into Ba Sing Se and my associate will be providing us transport, we have to move quickly though.”

“You will be transported in these vases, you will stay in them until we reach Full Moon Bay, and with the means of transport I have prepared, it shouldn’t be more than a day,” Iroh’s associate said.

“Stuffed in a small vase for twenty-four hours, what could be better?” Sokka asked with heavy sarcasm.

“I once smuggled myself into Ba Sing Se using a rolled up carpet, that was uncomfortable,” Iroh commented as his associate opened the flower shop door. He brought out three flower vases prepared with hidden containerss and instructed them all into the vases. Sokka wasn’t keen on small spaces and this was no exception. But it meant he had time to think, about Yue, about Zuko, about what he was feeling.

* * *

As they travelled undercover transported by a large sand ship to cross the desert, Zuko thought about the flower shop, about how he had touched Sokka’s hand, but Sokka had grabbed it in return, Zuko wondered what their bond was they were developing, was it platonic, or something more? Travelling together he had gotten to know Sokka well, they had some things in common even, it was comforting that Sokka considered him a friend.

“Friends, or something else?” Zuko muttered to himself in the vase. He had no idea, but he knew one thing, there was something Sokka needed to know, the fortune, Sokka’s Wolf helmet, Zuko believed heavily in destiny, and if Sokka was a part of his, Sokka would need to know, even if he himself didn’t believe.

Inside Sokka’s vase, his arm was starting to ache, bad enough it had to break, now it was going to suffer cramped conditions and push back his recovery.

“God I bet Katara and Aang sipping on fancy drinks right now while I’m stuck in a vase,” Sokka mumbled to himself. But life on the road with Iroh and Zuko had been less stressful for him, and Zuko wasn’t so bad, he was nice, cute even, a thought that had never crossed Sokka’s mind until now.

“He’s cute…cute…cute!” Sokka said as the realisation dawned on him. “Oh man, I wish dad were here…wait no, not dad he wouldn’t get it, where is gran when you need her,” he said to himself. But Zuko had grabbed his hand, surely he felt something similar, but the brightness of the moon to, it had to mean something.

“What were you saying Yue?” Sokka asked himself, he couldn’t ask her directly, not in this vase, but he would need her wisdom, her guidance, something to know that it was alright.

Iroh meditated inside his vase, a perfect location, quiet, no distractions, but he knew the boys were starting to feel something for each other. He had overheard their conversations, seen the way they looked at each other when the other wasn’t looking. The tarot reader’s fortunes were spot on. His only worry was Zuko getting hurt, Sokka was only meant to be a temporary ally, they would travel together until Ba Sing Se and then Sokka would go to find his sister and the Avatar, but if the two of them were developing a bond, it would make leaving all that harder for the both of them.

“Don’t break his heart Sokka,” Iroh muttered to himself, his nephew had experienced many things, but he never wanted him to feel heartbreak.

* * *

Sokka was sleeping in the vase, head pressed against the cold clay when bright light and someone knocking on his head woke him up.

“Wake up sleepyhead, we’re almost to Ba Sing Se, we’ve just got to get the boat,” Iroh informed him as he helped Sokka out of his vase.

“How long was I in that vase?” he asked, feeling every joint hurt. “Everything hurts.”

“I am never sleeping in a vase again,” Zuko muttered trying to fix his already messy hair. Sokka observed the length, it was enough to tie back.

“Hey, I have a spare tie,” Sokka said taking his hair tie out and handing it to Zuko. Zuko took the tie and pulled his hair back into a small topknot.

“Better?” he asked.

“Cute, I mean cool,” Sokka said realising what had slipped out. They moved into a small group of refugees that were being led by some Earthbenders.

“Follow us please,” one of the Earthbenders said. They pulled down a piece of wall to reveal a tunnel for everyone to walk through. Sokka ran his hand through his hair, it had gotten longer definitely since leaving the South Pole, but it would have to stay down while Zuko had his hair tie. He could always buy another.

The Earthbenders pulled down another piece of wall at the end of the tunnel, leading into Full Moon Bay.

“Welcome to Full Moon Bay, tickets for the ferries is over there,” the guide said to them.

“I’ll get the tickets, why don’t you two go find a good waiting spot,” Iroh told them as he went to join a queue. Sokka started to look around the bay until he heard someone calling for his name.

“Sokka, Sokka!” Sokka turned to see a girl in green robes run up to him. “Sokka!”

“Suki!” Sokka exclaimed in surprise as she jumped into a hug.

“It’s been so long, how are- where’s Aang and Katara?” Suki asked noticing they weren’t there.

“Well there was a slight incident and we kind of got split up a couple weeks ago, but I’m not alone see,” Sokka said gesturing to a slightly bewildered Zuko.

“Yes, I noticed you had a companion!” Suki said in a harsh tone.

“Yeah, I can explain,” Sokka started.

“Well it better be a good one, I want to know how you ended up in the pocket of the Banished Prince!” Suki demanded.

“I’m going to join uncle,” Zuko said slowly edging away.

“Nope, you stay right here,” Suki ordered. Zuko stopped, this was bad.

“Well it started when I went to see this fortune teller,” Sokka began. Zuko gasped slightly, a fortune teller, the same one he met? “And she gave me some fortune about Dragons and bodies, when I all I wanted was some perfume to get rid of the swamp smell, but then Katara broke my vial and I yelled and stormed away, I tripped, hit my head on a rock, broke my arm and…well…Zuko and his uncle both helped me, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them,” Sokka explained.

“Right, you tripped over your own feet and fell into his lap, and that’s why he’s wearing your hair tie, you know I am surprised at you Sokka, I didn’t take you for a traitor,” Suki said to him.

“How did you-?” Sokka began.

“I can tell!” Suki shouted at him.

“Look I’ll be meeting up with the guys in Ba Sing Se, I can explain it all there and they’ll have to understand, I wanted to go back but they left me, I had no choice,” Sokka said defensively.

“He’s telling the truth, my uncle helped mend his arm and offered for him to travel with us,” Zuko interjected.

“Oh don’t think I haven’t forgotten about you burning down my village, I ought to beat the stuffing out of you, but…while I might be a Kiyoshi Warrior, I am also a refugee guide, it would be bad to start fighting refugees in the middle of the bay, I am going to go get my orders and when I can come back, we’re going to have a talk Sokka,” Suki said as she composed herself and walked away.

“Well that went better than I thought,” Sokka said.

“What would have been worse?” Zuko asked.

“She would have got the fans out,” Sokka answered.


	7. Seven

Suki returned to talk to Sokka a short while later, Iroh had got the boat tickets and was now sharing tea with some other refugees, Zuko was with his uncle assisting.

“Can we talk now?” Suki asked Sokka in a small voice.

“Yeah, let’s talk,” he replied as they walked to a small lookout spot.

“I’m just surprised Sokka, I thought you hated Zuko and here you two are travelling together, I’m just trying to understand it,” Suki said to him.

“Things changed, I wasn’t happy to be on the road with him and his uncle, but they did help me with my arm, and Zuko…he’s not a bad guy, there’s more to him than his ‘I must find the Avatar and restore my honour’ shtick we were familiar with,” Sokka explained.

“So you’re friends then?” Suki asked. Sokka looked at his hand and closed it into a fist.

“I think there’s more there, and I don’t understand myself fully, but there’s no one I can talk to about it,” he said. Suki’s confused expression faded and her mouth dropped slightly.

“Well…you can talk to me, I might know a thing or two about boys,” Suki offered. Sokka chuckled and playfully nudged her arm.

“I missed having you around Suki,” he said.

“I missed you too Sokka, but you’ll be fine, so long as he feels the same way,” she said to him.

“I’m wondering if he does, maybe he was the Dragon in my fortune,” Sokka said to her.

“What was this fortune, I thought you didn’t believe in those things?” Suki asked curiously.

“It’s not about predicting the future, it’s how you interpret the prediction, at least that’s what the fortune teller said, but I still don’t know how to interpret it, she said I’d meet a Dragon, his heart was violet and our destinies are linked by mind, body and heart, was she just waffling?”

“Well if it’s about the interpretation, perhaps Zuko is the Dragon,” Suki suggested.

“But where does the violet stuff come in, and the united bodies, the less said about that the better,” Sokka said.

“Not ready for it?” Suki teased causing him to frown.

“That is none of your business,” Sokka told her.

“Alright I won’t pry, my question now is, what are you going to tell Aang and Katara?” Suki asked.

“I have no idea,” Sokka answered.

“Well you could always tell the truth, that Zuko and his uncle helped you out of a scrape and got you there in one piece,” Suki suggested. Sokka was about to reply when he saw Zuko waving to him.

“Our boat’s ready,” he called to him.

“Well I can think about it on the boat ride, thanks for the talk Suki,” Sokka said.

“No problem Sokka, you better get going, if the guys stop by I’ll let them know I saw you,” Suki said.

“Thanks,” Sokka replied as he joined Zuko and Iroh in the queue for the boat.

* * *

As the boat departed from Full Moon Bay, it was going to be an overnight stay before they docked, so Iroh, Zuko and Sokka found a comfortable spot to sit and set up their bedrolls for the night. Evening was drawing in and food had been offered, near them they could hear the grumblings of several people complaining about the lack of food available.

“The food is pretty drab, what is this gruel?” Sokka asked as the slop he had been given flopped into the bowl.

“I don’t know but it’s cold as well,” Zuko added putting his bowl down.

“We can always get better food, the Captain’s quarters has the best food ready, would you maybe want to help?” a fellow passenger asked.

“Maybe, what would- JET!” Sokka cried realising it was Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Going to Ba Sing Se for a new life, where’s your friend the Avatar and your sister, how is she by the way?” Jet asked in a cool tone.

“You know him?” Zuko asked.

“Know him, he tried to flood a village, with innocent people in it,” Sokka cried out.

“Are you still mad about that, you saved that whole village from my plan, or are you pissed that your friends didn’t believe you at first,” Jet said.

“You want to rob the Captain’s quarters, go ahead but I’m not helping or buying into it, you’re a crook Jet and if Katara was here, she would destroy you,” Sokka said. “I’m going to the other end of the boat.”

“You in?” Jet asked Zuko. Zuko looked at Sokka who was walking away and nodded.

“Sure I’m in,” he agreed, Sokka would be mad but whatever the Captain had stashed away had to be better than this slop.

Sokka walked to the front of the boat which was empty, he leaned on the side and looked up at the bright shining moon. Sokka sighed, would she be listening?

“Yue, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I really wish you were here right now, I need your help, I don’t know what to do about Zuko, I feel a strong connection to him, so strong that it’s like a chain pulling on my chest when I see him…I know he is the enemy, his father wants to take over the world and stop Aang, but Zuko’s not the Fire Lord, and I think I’m falling for him…I don’t want to say goodbye when we get to Ba Sing Se, I want to stay with him…but if I do I’ll be betraying my friend, my sister…what do I do?” Sokka asked as he stared up at the moon. Silence, of course. Sokka looked down at the water sadly, but as he looked at the reflection of the moon, he heard a soft whisper in his ear, a voice he recognised.

“Listen to your heart Sokka.”

“Thanks Yue,” he whispered as he looked back up at the moon, she really was listening and watching.

Sokka,” he heard Zuko from behind him say. He turned to see Zuko holding a plate of Sashimi.

“I knew you wouldn’t approve if I helped Jet, but the refugees are full and…Jet told me what happened,” he said walking over to him.

“He did?”

“Yeah, he seemed pretty remorseful, he wants to go to Ba Sing Se and help people there too, Sashimi?” Zuko replied, offering a piece. Sokka took a piece and ate it.

“Not bad, gran does a better Sashimi,” Sokka said. Zuko placed the plate on the ships edge and stood beside Sokka.

“Moon’s bright tonight, did you know that Firebenders are weaker at night due to the absence of the sun, but the light of the moon gives us the tiniest bit of power, not like Waterbenders, on a night like this, your sister would be very powerful, she’d kick my ass,” Zuko said.

“Again?” Sokka commented.

“Yes again,” Zuko said. He saw Sokka’s hand holding onto the ship edge and he placed his hand near to Sokka’s. “Can I confess something to you?”

“Of course.”

“This time we have travelled together, my eyes have been opened, before they were closed, refused to open, but time with you has made me realise, I’m not bound by what I feel like I have to do, rather I should choose what I want to do,” Zuko said.

“And what is that?” Sokka asked.

“I want to…be more than your friend Sokka,” Zuko confessed as he turned away. Sokka gasped, he did feel the same then.

“I…I feel the same way Zuko, I can’t explain it but I like being with you, I don’t want this to end, but I’m scared it will,” Sokka said. Zuko turned back to him, touching Sokka’s cheek and caressing it with his thumb.

“I’ve never felt this way about another person before,” Zuko said. Sokka smiled, leaned forward and kissed Zuko. Stunned, but feeling a swell of joy, Zuko embraced the kiss, pulling Sokka into his arms, holding him tight, as above their heads, a lonely Appa flew across the sky.


	8. Eight

The dawn was a pretty sight as the boat touched down outside of Ba Sing Se and the refugees were filed into an underground train system to wait for trains to take them into the city itself.

“Tea here, best tea here in Ba Sing Se,” a tea merchant called out.

“One cup please,” Iroh called.

“Make that two please,” Sokka called, he had become accustomed to tea now a lot more thanks to Iroh, but he was still not happy that Jet was nearby and keeping an eye on him.

“Best tea in Ba Sing Se,” the merchant said handing over two cups. Sokka took a sip and immediately spat it back out.

“This tea’s cold, best tea, Mushi here can make a better tea with his eyes closed,” Sokka cried out. Iroh chuckled.

“He’s right you know, I could,” Iroh commented as he sipped the cold tea, subtly using his hands to heat the cup up. Zuko rolled his eyes at his uncle’s smug attitude and looked around, this place could be a good start for him.

“Do you think your sister and the Avatar are in Ba Sing Se?” Zuko asked Sokka as he stood behind him.

“I think we’ve beaten them here, it’s weird being here without my sister, we’ve never left each other’s side since the day she was born,” Sokka replied. Zuko sighed and leaned on Sokka’s shoulder as they waited for the train.

“I envy you,” he said. Sokka smiled and grabbed Zuko’s hand.

“Well looks like our train is here, boys, let’s hope we find something better than the swill they’re selling here,” Iroh said throwing the cup behind him. They filed onto the train, sitting down next to each other the Earthbenders started to push the carriage down the tracks and into Ba Sing Se.

* * *

Ba Sing Se was ginormous, Sokka had never seen a city so big before, surrounded by walls to safeguard it, the inner wall was packed with houses and people and it felt very cramped.

“Hello, welcome to Ba Sing Se, my name is Joo Dee,” a friendly greeter said to them as they stepped off the train.

“Joo Dee,” Sokka said slightly creeped out by her big smile.

“I am here to answer any and all questions you may have, if you have no questions, please proceed into the city,” she said to them, still smiling.

“Yeah…have you seen a kid with a blue arrow on his head or a girl with braids wearing water tribe clothing and has a complexion that matches mine?” Sokka asked.

“I have not, but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask,” Joo Dee answered.

“It’s like she’s on a script,” Zuko muttered.

“Well then…no further questions,” Sokka said.

“Excellent, welcome to Ba Sing Se,” Joo Dee said bowing before them. They left the station and Joo Dee and started to walk through to the Artisan Quarter.

“Did she creep you out?” Sokka asked Zuko.

“Very much so, gave me a weird vibe,” Zuko agreed.

“Appearances can be deceiving now, let’s…ooh a tea shop,” Iroh said spotting a small tea shop and immediately going inside. Sokka and Zuko followed inside where Iroh was already talking to the owner.

“Your uncle is a surprisingly good people person,” Sokka noted.

“Good news boys, I have procured us jobs thanks to Pao, Lee, you’re going to be a new waiter, I am going to be a tea brewer after I show off my extensive tea brewing skills,” Iroh said with glee.

“Wait that’s only two jobs,” Sokka noted.

“Yes, I only had two positions available here,” Pao said to him.

“No worries, soon as Aang and Katara arrive, I’ll be meeting back up with them,” Sokka said. He saw Zuko’s face slightly sadden at the prospect. “I’ll make sure to sneak away when I can, I still don’t know how to tell them you helped get me here.”

“Well, why don’t you two discuss it then, Pao, let me show you how to brew a nice cup of tea,” Iroh said as Pao led him away to see his tea-making skills.

“You’re going to join back up with them?” Zuko asked.

“I have to, if I run into them here by accident, it would be hard to explain, but if I actively look for them when I know they’re here, it would make it easier to explain that a guy named Lee and his uncle Mushi invited me along on the road with them, and that my name is now Wang Fu,” Sokka said. Zuko giggled again at the name.

“I can understand that, but…don’t stay away too long when they get here,” he said.

“It’ll be hard too,” Sokka said giving him a kiss.

* * *

Zuko and Iroh were told to start work at the tea house the next day and had been put up in a small apartment. That evening as Iroh made dinner, Sokka and Zuko were sat on the floor, Zuko’s arm around Sokka as they waited for dinner.

“You two seem awfully close now,” Iroh noted as he poured rice into three bowls. “It’s good to see my nephew with a smile on his face for once.”

“I smile,” Zuko said with slight offense.

“You haven’t smiled in three years Zuko, I’m old but I’ve still a keen eye,” Iroh told him taking the bowls to them.

“I can’t believe he tried to kill me when he met me,” Sokka said.

“You threw a boomerang at me,” Zuko said.

“And now here we are, I guess that old woman with the tarot cards knew her stuff after all,” Sokka said.

“What was your fortune?” Zuko asked, he had been wondering since he heard him tell Suki.

“That I would meet a Dragon with a heart of violet, our destinies linked in heart, mind and body,” Sokka told him.

“She told me I’d meet a Wolf who would set me free…she wasn’t a matchmaker was she?” Zuko asked.

“If she was, she’s saw you two a mile off,” Iroh commented. “Did I ever tell you how I met your Aunt, Zuko?”

“I don’t recall,” Zuko replied.

“Back when I was a young handsome thing, my friend Shoji and I were head over heels for these twin sisters, Shiloh and Jinnee, Shoji was mad about Jinnee and I was smitten with Shiloh, we were always trying to pull a scheme to get their attention and sometimes it worked, they both found us charming enough, but we hadn’t explicitly asked to court them, so we hatched a plan. We invited them to the royal gardens and met them on the bridge over the pond, except we weren’t on the bridge, we were on a gondola under the bridge, playing musical instruments, we weren’t very good but they found it charming and when we ended our serenade by asking to court them, they accepted,” Iroh told them.

“I’ve heard uncle sing, I can believe it,” Zuko said.

“Romantic,” Sokka said remembering how he kept trying to impress Yue.

“Ah to be young,” Iroh said reminiscing. “Well we should get a good night sleep in, we start work tomorrow.” As they finished their dinner and settled down for the night, Iroh was off to sleep instantly as Zuko and Sokka were still awake in their beds.

“Did you try to impress Yue?” Zuko asked him.

“You would have laughed if you saw it, why, do you want me to sing in a gondola for you?” Sokka replied. Zuko chuckled.

“No, but I’d totally try and win an Agni Kai for you,” he said reaching out to Sokka. Sokka grabbed his hand.

“I’ll take that bet,” he said.

“We should do something one night, head out, explore this place,” Zuko said.

“Why wait, let’s go now, how light of a sleeper is your uncle?” Sokka asked, Zuko listened carefully to the sound of Iroh’s snoring.

“Quite heavy, let’s go,” Zuko replied getting out of his bed.

* * *

Sokka and Zuko sneaked out of the apartment into the street where it was quiet, lights were lit and there was the odd guard on patrol.

“Let’s try and not get caught,” Sokka said as he looked around and found an alley they could start going down. The followed down a winding alley to a canal with a bridge over it. No one was around and there were closed up market stalls. Sokka looked around and spotted a flower stall which still had some flowers on display. He went over, taking a look and saw one was a Fire Lily, he took the Lily and walked over to Zuko holding it out.

“A Fire Lily for a Firebender,” he said bowing as he did. Zuko chuckled at the gesture and took the Lily.

“I’m surprised it’s bloomed, they don’t bloom for very long, but they’re very pretty,” he said. Sokka walked onto the bridge and looked over into the canal. The moon’s reflection shone brightly in the water and Sokka remembered what Yue had told him.

“Zuko, come here,” he said.

“What is it?” Zuko wondered as he walked onto the bridge.

“In the Water Tribes, you don’t really date, you're betrothed to a person, normally you give a girl or guy a betrothal necklace when you’re sixteen and guess what I turn sixteen in a week, I don’t have a betrothal necklace or of any kind but…,” Sokka stopped, he had a necklace technically, he reached behind his neck and unfastened his white choker and handed it to Zuko. “Zuko…Fire…lord?” It only now occurred to him that he didn’t know Zuko’s family name.

“Okada, Zuko Okada,” Zuko told him.

“Zuko Okada…until I can carve out an actual necklace, I want you to have my choker a placeholder, to…symbolise my…commitment to you,” Sokka said nervously. Zuko looked at the choker for a moment and put on, fastening it.

“How does it look?” he asked. Sokka said nothing in response but smiled.

“Perfect.”


	9. Nine

Zuko and Iroh settled into their work well, while Sokka was left waiting for news on Katara and Aang, of which there was little. One afternoon he was browsing the markets, looking for a merchant who could help him make the proper betrothal necklace, he still hadn’t found a good rock and in a city of Earthbenders that felt like some cruel. He came across a woman of about middle-age at a jewellery stand selling her wares. Behind her stand was a large workshop where two teenage children were sorting through materials and her husband was working on a commission.

“Excuse me, can you help me?” Sokka asked her.

“Hi, what do you need help with?” she answered with a sweet smile.

“I’m from the Water Tribe, Southern to be exact, and I need to make a betrothal necklace, I can’t ask you to carve it for me, I must do that myself, but I can’t find a good rock, can you help?” he said. The woman thought and smiled at him, tapping her finger to her head.

“I know how to help, you need to carve it yourself, we have a workshop behind us, we have a large selection of materials, we might have a good rock or stone that should help and you can make it here,” she said and gestured for him to come into the workshop.

“Thanks,” Sokka said in surprise.

“We’ll still charge for the materials, what kind of ribbon would you like, we have a nice silk selection, or velvet, or simple cottons,” the woman said. Sokka knew silk would probably be best for Zuko, make it fancy, like it was royal.

“I don’t know if this sounds insensitive, but I’d like one that would resemble Fire Nation royalty,” he told her. She started to look through some ribbons and found a silk ribbon that was a red and gold ombre.

“One of our rarer imports from the Fire Nation, expensive though,” she said to him.

“I’ll take it, now I just need a stone,” he said and examined a box of rocks that was sitting on the workbench.

“If you want it to look regal, we can use volcanic rock, my husband likes to deal with the more unusual minerals we can get, shiny black volcanic rock from the Isle of Roku, another expensive import and rare,” she said revealing under the table a small box of black rocks with red hues.  
“I’m surprised people here would accept imports from the Fire Nation,” Sokka said.

“They don’t, but my husband has contacts, so we get some clients who like to pay for jewellery made from Fire Nation resources,” she said.

“Wow, I’ll take this one,” Sokka said finding a rather round volcanic rock that had veins of red and yellow running through it.

“Wonderful, start carving, when you’re done you can take it to my husband Ban and he’ll polish it for you and fasten it to the ribbon,” she said to him. Sokka sat down at the workbench and started to use the tools there to start carving the stone. He carefully started carving the stone into the Firebending emblem, after a careful hour of intricate carving and smoothing the edges of the stone, it had now gone from a lumpy piece of volcano to a still sort of bumpy stone with the Firebending Emblem carved in deep, the veins. He took the rock to Ban who held it in his enclosed hands and started to squeeze it. Sokka wasn’t sure how this was polishing it, but when Ban was done the rock had smoothed into a pendant and the veins were now running through the carved symbol, lighting it up.

“Wow, how did you do that?” Sokka asked.

“I’m an Earthbender kid and a damn good one, why do you think my wife’s jewellery is high quality, I bend those little rocks and gems into perfection,” he said to him.

“You really did, Zu- Lee’s going to love this,” Sokka said. Ban raised an eyebrow at him.

“He better,” Ban said and started to fasten the pendant to the ribbon.

When it was done, Sokka paid Ban and his wife and admired the pendant, it was beautiful he almost wanted to wear it himself.

“If gran knew I’d done this, can only imagine her reaction,” he said to himself as he walked back to the tea shop.

* * *

Zuko was waiting on tables when Sokka returned to Pao’s, Iroh was brewing tea as he walked over.

“Mushi, I would like a cup of Jasmine, and while Lee’s back is turned, I got it,” Sokka said to Iroh as he showed the pendant before quickly stashing it away into his pocket.

“Very nice, so when’s the wedding?” Iroh asked with a chuckle as he started brewing the tea.

“How long can you wait?” Sokka asked him.

“Enough time,” Iroh answered. “Any news on your friends?”

“A little, someone said they saw a bald kid with an arrow on his head at Full Moon Bay accompanied by a tiny aggressive blind girl, I wouldn’t know anything about that, and a girl they ‘think I could be related to’ but they didn’t get on the boat,” Sokka said.

“Well, no news is good news as they say, haven’t heard much news myself regarding life outside the city,” Iroh said.

“I am a little worried, she is my sister after all, have you ever worried about your brother?”

“I am always worried about him, now more than ever lately, especially with that comet approaching,” Iroh said.

“I can understand that, I hope they get here before my birthday in two days, would be nice to celebrate turning sixteen with Katara,” Sokka said. Iroh handed him a cup of Jasmine as Zuko returned to the counter.

“I’m sure they’ll turn up,” Iroh said to him. A young girl approached the counter, spotted Zuko and blushed slightly before turning to Iroh.

“Hi, Ginseng please,” she said to him. Zuko continued to work as Sokka drank his tea and admired the pendant. The girl took notice and started to talk with Sokka.

“I’m Jin,” she said with a smile.

“Wang,” Sokka replied.

“That’s an…unusual name,” Jin said trying not to laugh.

“My father had a terrible sense of humour,” Sokka said.

“That’s a lovely pendant, who’s it for?” she asked him.

“Him,” Sokka said pointing to Zuko, Jin’s smile dropped and her eyes lowered slightly.

“Oh,” she said slightly disappointed. Sokka knew that look, he had that exact same look when Yue first showed her betrothal pendant to him.

“I’ve been where you are, it does suck,” Sokka said to her. She nodded and started drinking her tea. Sokka pocketed the pendant and finished up his tea as Zuko returned to the counter putting down the tea tray.

“I’m done for the day Pao,” Zuko said to him.

“Excellent work Lee, keep it up,” Pao said with a polite bow.

“Do you want to get out of here and go for a walk?” Zuko asked Sokka.

“Love to, nice meet you Jin,” Sokka said getting up from the counter.

“And you Wang,” she said politely.

* * *

Zuko and Sokka went back down to the canal where some stalls were starting to close up for the evening.

“I might have got you something for your birthday,” Zuko said to him as they crossed the bridge.

“Really, do I get it now?” Sokka asked jokingly.

“Not yet, but I think you’ll like it,” Zuko said. Sokka reached into his pocket and clutched at the pendant.

“Alright close your eyes,” Sokka said. Zuko gave him a slightly odd look but complied and closed his eyes. Sokka pulled out the pendant and held it up. “Now open.” Zuko opened his eyes and gasped at the pendant.

“Sokka this is…this is beautiful,” he said as he took the pendant.

“Put it on.” Zuko unfastened the choker from Sokka and replaced it with the pendant. He gave back the choker to Sokka who put it back on and he admired the polished black pendant that now rested on Zuko’s neck.

“Technically if we were back home, you’re my fiancé now,” Sokka pointed out.

“Sadly in my home, you can’t be, Sozin outlawed same-sex marriage and no one in the family ever repealed it,” Zuko said feeling some slight resentment for his great-grandfather. Sokka was about to respond when at the end of the road, he saw Aang and Katara with a small girl in green clothing talking.

“Katara!” Sokka said in surprise. Zuko turned to see them and gasped slightly.

“They finally made, it,” he said. Sokka wanted to run to them, but he wanted to stay. “Go to them, I get it, but…can I at least see you again?” Zuko said to him. Sokka nodded and kissed him longingly.

“I’ll send you a message,” he said before turning to run towards Aang and Katara.

“Aang, Katara!” he cried as Zuko watched him run away. He touched the pendant, a small smile on his face, but a heavy weight in his chest.


	10. Ten

“Aang, Katara!” Sokka cried.

“Sokka!” Katara cried as he jumped into her arms for a hug.

“I have missed you so much little sister, don’t you ever call my bluff again,” he said.

“Sokka what happened to you, how did you end up here?” Aang asked.

“All questions will be answered in due time but I want to know how you guys got here and where’s Appa?” Sokka said to them.

“Well…,” Aang began.

“We’ll explain everything at the house,” Katara said.

“Who’s this?” Sokka asked pointing to their third companion.

“I’m Toph Beifong,” she said to him.

“Toph’s teaching me Earthbending, she’s really good,” Aang said.

“Sounds great, but you need to fill me in on what happened to you guys, my story probably isn’t as great as yours,” Sokka said. He followed them back to their house in the Upper Ring, Sokka was surprised they had been gifted nice a luxury house as Katara explained about Azula, Wan Shi Tong’s secret library and the Drill that had pierced the outer walls of Ba Sing Se.

“Sounds like quite an adventure, what did you discover in the weird library?” Sokka asked them.

“A giant owl, but we also learnt there’s an eclipse happening in a couple of months, we found this piece of paper about something called The Day of Black Sun, apparently when the moon passes the sun, Firebenders are completely powerless for a short amount of time,” Aang said.

“It’s coming right before the comet, we think if we can warn the Earth King, we can ally forces to mount an invasion on the Fire Nation,” Katara said.

“That’s a…that’s a plan alright,” Sokka said a little uneasy.

“So what’s your story then, how did beat us here?” Toph asked him.

“Well, it started with tripping over and breaking my arm, I was saved by Z-,” Sokka stopped. Was it worth telling them?

“Who saved you Sokka?” Aang asked.

“This guy named Lee, he and his uncle Mushi were journeying here to start a new life, they helped me out and said I could join their journey when I saw you were gone, Lee turned out to be a pretty cool guy, Suki even met him when we got to Full Moon Bay,” Sokka said.

“Yeah Suki said you were with some guy and his uncle, she also said he was wearing your hair tie,” Katara said pointing to Sokka’s hair which was still untied and growing out.

“When she told us, I honestly thought you were with Zuko and Iroh,” Aang said, Sokka started laughing loudly.

“What that’s ridiculous, me journeying with Zuko, like we’d get along and I’d save his life from some thugs and we’d form a deep connection and realise we’ve got feelings-, I mean Zuko’s not the only guy who hangs out with his uncle,” Sokka said realising the words he was spilling out. Katara gave him a suspicious glance and pretended to ignore his outburst.

“Anyway, we’re glad we found you, I thought you had gone to find dad until we ran into Suki and she told us you had been at Full Moon Bay, sounds like you made it here in one piece,” she said to him.

“I did, now what about the war and Appa?” Sokka asked getting back to the serious matters.

“No one will help, there’s a party in a couple days at the palace for the King’s Bear, it’s his birthday apparently,” Aang replied.

“My birthday’s in a couple days, I share a birthday with…a Bear?” Sokka said not believing it.

“I know, we were going to celebrate, but we think if we sneak into the palace, we might be able to talk to the King,” Katara said.

“Hey we almost forgot your birthday Katara, I can go one year not celebrating, I’ll just hang out by myself all evening then,” Sokka said.

“He’s lying,” Toph said.

“What, how dare you, I am...fine I already have plans alright,” Sokka said hoping a small truth would ease them.

“With your friend Lee?” Aang asked a wide grin on his face.

“Aang I was on the road with him for a few weeks now, obviously we’re friends,” Sokka said.

“He’s lying,” Toph repeated.

“Will you stop that?” Sokka cried.

“Hey I may be blind, but I can see through your bullshit,” Toph said smugly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Katara asked.

“It means, I think your brother here might have a crush on his new ‘friend’,” Toph said. “I can tell, I’m very perceptive.” Sokka glared at Toph. Katara started laughing at his angry face and patted him on the back.

“You can get back at her later, I think we should get dinner now,” she said. Sokka could agree to that. He felt like a prize idiot, but he was happy to see his sister and friend again and that they had made it to Ba Sing Se, even if Azula had been giving chase, that was concerning.

“Hey Katara, Azula’s not in the city is she?” he asked.

“No, we think she retreated after the drill failed, why?” Katara replied.

“Just, we don’t want her getting to the King first right,” he said. A half-truth, he was also worried if she would find Zuko, would she tip the scales?

* * *

That evening, Sokka and Katara were catching up whilst Aang worked on his Earthbending with Toph.

“So you’ll never guess who I ran into on the boat here,” Sokka said as they both sat on the porch watching Aang and Toph.

“Who?” Katara asked.

“Your old boyfriend Jet, he was there with Smellerbee and Longshot.”

“Tell me you decked him for me,” Katara said.

“I did not, but I did refuse to help him rob the Captain’s quarters of food, Lee helped though but the refugees got hot meals...he’s a terrible person but Jet does actually help those that need it, so long as they’re Earth Kingdom,” Sokka replied.

“Urgh, can’t believe he’s in Ba Sing Se,” Katara huffed as she crossed her arms. “But sounds like you and Lee had a fun time on the road, no interesting stories?”

“Well…there’s one,” Sokka said, he didn’t want to mention the flower shop or the boat or the bridge, but he knew what he could bring up. “Lee was kind of going through some stuff and while we were in the desert, I suggested he do the thing where I throw my boomerang while shouting into the void to carry the bad feelings away, he tried it, shouted ‘fuck you dad’ and the boomerang then came and smacked him the head, would have been funny had I not stood on a cactus plant right after.” Katara started laughing.

“Oh only you would stand on one of those, you didn’t drink any cactus juice did you?” she asked him.

“I thought about it,” Sokka answered.

“Good thing you didn’t, where is Lee and his uncle now?”

“They work at a tea shop in the Artisan’s Quarter,” Sokka said realising he had given away their location.

“Oh, maybe we should visit,” Katara suggested.

“No way, not ever…Jet lives in that area, you don’t want to run into him do you?” Sokka said acting quickly, mention Jet should keep her away for a while. She sighed and nodded, Jet.

“You’re right, I would probably kick his ass again,” she said. “But this Lee must be really something, you’ve never really had friends.”

“He really is,” Sokka answered with a smile. “That’s why we made birthday plans, I didn’t know if you were going to be here and he didn’t want me to celebrate it alone.”

“That’s sweet of him, we’ll celebrate it properly after we try and see the Earth King, I was meant to get you a present but we ran out of money in the desert,” Katara replied. Sokka felt sort of bad, he got a free ride in a vase while his sister dealt with bandits and a creepy library.

“We should get to bed then, you’ve got a party to crash and I have a date to look forward to,” Sokka said standing up.

“So it is something then,” Katara confirmed.

“That’s all you get sis, no more,” Sokka said as he went inside. It was good to have the gang back together in his mind, but he was also feeling the tug in his chest. If only there was a way for them to understand.


	11. Eleven

Dawn on Ba Sing Se and Sokka woke up smiling brightly.

“It’s my birthday!” he shouted to the household as they all came down for breakfast.

“Happy birthday Sokka, sixteen years old, you know you’re a man, go get a job,” Katara said to him in a jokingly tone as she gave him a hug.

“Being part of Team Avatar is my job you know, someone has to help you guys out, I can’t believe you guys lasted without me, even if you did lose Appa, no offense buddy, get chased by Azula for a whole night, go through a dangerous rocky path that’s home to a giant sea serpent and take down a giant drill, that last one is impressive,” Sokka said.

“Look we had some trouble at first but we adapted and now we have the Sokka-less contingency, if ever you’re not with us when we’re travelling, we go to that plan, otherwise it’s business as usual,” Katara informed him.

“I’m proud of you sis, while you guys get ready for crashing the King’s party tonight, I’m going to try and get word on a missing giant bison and celebrate my birthday with my new friend Lee,” Sokka said.

“You mean your new boyfriend Lee,” Toph said before laughing.

“I don’t like you Toph,” Sokka said to her before leaving the kitchen. He got changed and grabbed his satchel, heading out the door, it was a nice day out and there was excited chatter about the King’s party.

He headed on down to the Artisan’s Quarter where Iroh was opening up the tea shop with Pao.

“Ah Wang, I heard you met up with your friends, you should bring them by for tea,” Pao said happily waving to him.

“Oh one day Pao, one day,” Sokka said. “No Lee today Mushi?”

“It’s his day off, he’s off doing some special planning and he asked me to get the address of where you’re living so he can meet you tonight,” Iroh said. Sokka nodded and whipped out a small piece of parchment from his satchel.

“I wrote it down, luckily my friends are going out tonight anyway for their own special event,” Sokka said.

“Excellent, oh and happy birthday son, I have a present I’ll give to Lee to give you later,” Iroh said.

“You’re too kind Uncle Mushi,” Sokka said, he really was, Iroh was a pleasant man, for the brother of the Fire Lord. “I shall take a cup of your finest before I go and start Bison hunting, Aang lost Appa.” This surprised Iroh.

“Really, I saw him flying when we were on the boat, I assumed your friends were flying but he wasn’t heading in our direction, rather he was going somewhere else,” Iroh informed him.

“Really, you don’t think he somehow made his way back to Ba Sing Se do you?” Sokka asked as Iroh started brewing tea.

“Maybe, I hear Sky Bison and the Air Nomads were quite in tune with each other, Appa might be on his way here right now,” Iroh said to him.

“Or he’s already here, if he’s alone he’s probably scared,” Sokka said.

“No one should be alone in this world Sokka, even a Sky Bison,” Iroh said. Sokka knew that was right, Appa being alone and scared without Aang must be hard. He drank the tea from Iroh as Jin arrived in the tea shop.

“Hi Wang,” she said with a smile.

“Hi Jin, did you know it’s my birthday today,” he said to her waving.

“Oh happy birthday, how old are you?” she asked.

“Sixteen,” Sokka said proudly. Sixteen and considered an adult in his tribe. Jin sat with Sokka as they drank tea and when explaining about Appa, Jin offered her help. The more eyes in the sky the better, Sokka thought. Another friend was needed.

* * *

Sokka spent the morning in the tea shop and then walked around the town with Jin looking for signs of Appa, a tuft of fur, a large footprint, but no one had seen anything, Jin noticed guards were eyeing them suspiciously as they asked around and knew they should stop before someone asked the wrong question.

“Wang, we should call it a day on the Appa search, those guards have been following us,” Jin whispered to Sokka as they reached the edge of the Upper Ring.

“I don’t like this city very much do you, I notice Jet’s not been snooping around either,” Sokka said.

“You mean that freedom fighter, he got arrested, started a commotion yesterday at the tea shop, completely attacked Lee who defended himself,” she told him.

“I knew I couldn’t trust Jet, attacking him, you know he tried to flood a village of innocent people, doesn’t matter how many 'good deeds' you do, you hurt innocents, it’s not okay,” Sokka said.

“He sounds troubled,” Jin commented.

“He’s trouble alright, well it’s almost evening, my friends should be leaving soon and I’ll need to meet them, you going to be okay getting home by yourself?” Sokka asked her. Jin nodded.

“Of course, I’ve walked these streets in the dark before, happy birthday Wang,” Jin said to him.

“Actually, it’s Sokka,” he told her. Jin paused before nodding.

“Happy birthday Sokka,” she said and walked away. Sokka watched until she turned a corner and started to walk back to the house. Jin was a nice girl, sweet and seemed to be wary of the weird things that went on in the city.

* * *

As Sokka returned to the house, he saw Toph and Katara all dressed up and Aang wearing a waiter’s uniform.

“Well, ready to crash a party then I see,” Sokka commented.

“Yep, ready to be regal ladies,” Toph said dramatically as she produced a fan and waved it.

“Careful, that’s a dangerous weapon,” Sokka advised her. Toph laughed and closed it.

“He’s funny,” she said.

“How about you Sokka, you sure you don’t want to come?” Katara wondered.

“Nah, I’m good, I learned something about Appa, he could be here, Mushi said he saw him flying over the boat when we were on our way here, he could be hiding right now and we may not even know it,” Sokka told Aang.

“He saw Appa, I should go talk to him,” Aang said excited at the prospect that someone saw Appa.

No! No, if you want more information, try the party, who knows maybe this ‘Bear’ could really be Appa,” Sokka said to Aang. Me and my big mouth, Sokka thought to himself.

“Well we should get going, we’ll probably be back at dawn, parties like these go on for hours,” Toph said.

“Take your time, go to an after party, or an after-after party, just have fun,” Sokka said waving them out the door. As soon as the door closed, Sokka sighed, now to wait for Zuko.

* * *

About an hour passed as Sokka was in some casual clothes he had on hand and had messed with his hair a little to stop it going all over the place. He heard a knock on the front door, he went and opened it to see Zuko, standing there holding bags and a bottle.

“What’s with the bottle?” Sokka asked as he opened the door fully.

“Gift from Pao, Sake, I’m not sure if this’ll taste good or if we can even drink it, he might have just broken a law by gifting this,” Zuko said as Sokka let him in and closed the door. As soon as the lock clicked, he turned to Zuko and kissed him. “Happy birthday.” He kissed Sokka before they heard a chirp and both looked to see Momo staring at them wide-eyed and head tilted sideways.

“Momo I thought you went with the others to crash the palace,” Sokka said releasing Zuko. Momo chirruped in response to Sokka. “Well, I’m having a private party with Zuko and don’t you tell the gang he’s here, Katara will kill me.” Momo chirruped again and Sokka sighed.

“Fine, the key to the cracker cupboard is under the planter in the kitchen, I’ll open it for you, but remember, this is our deal, all the crackers if you keep quiet about my little private party okay?” Sokka said to Momo. Momo happily chirruped at the deal as Zuko followed them into the kitchen, Sokka reached under a planter and picked up a small key and opened high up cupboard.

“Have at it little buddy,” Sokka said as Momo ran inside and slammed the cupboard shut.

“He’s kind of cute,” Zuko commented.

“Yeah, now while he has his own little party, let’s move ours to my room,” Sokka said.

* * *

Inside Sokka’s bedroom sat on the bed, Zuko opened the bottle of sake while Sokka opened up three presents. First from Iroh was a lovely little teacup with the Southern Water Tribe symbol painted on, the second from Zuko was a sleek little dagger and the third was in a very small box.

“What is this tiny thing?” Sokka asked as he examined the tiny box.

“Open it and see,” Zuko said to him. Sokka opened it up and gasped as inside the box was a ring.

“A ring?” Sokka said in surprise. It was a simple black band but there were two symbols etched into the outside with a sapphire and a ruby embedded between then.

“The symbol for water and the symbol for fire, your declaration of love on the bridge last week gave me the idea,” Zuko said.

“Well now we really are engaged, can’t come back from a ring now can you,” Sokka said admiring the ring as it sat nestled in the box.

“Yeah…it’s crazy I know but…I’m a big believer in destiny…you already know this,” Zuko said remembering he had monologued this in the past.

“I believe you mentioned it once or twice,” Sokka said taking out the ring. He slipped it onto his ring finger and admired it. “Katara will freak when she sees this.”

“You can always wear it around your neck, there’s a silver chain in the box as well,” Zuko told him.

“I guess, but for now, I like it where it is,” Sokka said.

“Me too.”

“And when I see Firelord Ozai for the first time, I’m going to call him dad in front of everyone,” Sokka said. Zuko started laughing at the prospect and knew his dad would probably react in shock or be speechless.

“Can I be there when you do?” Zuko asked as he poured the sake into two cups.

“Of course you’ll be there...it’ll be the engagement party,” Sokka said picking up a cup of sake, they toasted to each other before drinking. Zuko downed his sake, feeling it burn.

"Okay one’s enough,” he said closing the bottle back up and putting it far on the other side of the room.

“I agree,” Sokka said. What was in that stuff?

“Okay you still have more present, so close your eyes,” Zuko said. Sokka complied and shut his eyes for several moments. “Alright now open.” Sokka opened his eyes, candles surrounded them and Zuko was sitting shirtless opposite him. Sokka blushed slightly, was this what the old woman meant by bodies uniting?

“I see we’ve reached this particular part of my fortune,” Sokka said feeling slightly flustered.

“I wanted this to be special, we’ve known each a while now, not all of it pleasant, but the pleasant times have been…well pleasant, Sokka,” Zuko said and took his hands. “If we are destined to be, if what that old woman in the tent foresaw was true, then, I want be yours in every way possible, our hearts are entwined, our minds...they're in sync, I guess, let this be the next thing.” Sokka breathed in as Zuko kissed him, a different kiss, a softer kiss, a kiss that offered a chance to be more than just that. He reached up and pulled the tie from Zuko’s hair, letting it fall as Zuko gently pushed Sokka’s robe off his shoulders, his lips moved to Sokka’s neck, his shoulder, his collarbone. Sokka leaned back, his arms enveloping the Prince who climbed on top of him. A brief pause between them as Sokka glanced at the pendant.

“Leave the pendant on.”


	12. Twelve

The candles were softly lit in the room as under the bed covers, naked, Zuko cuddled close to Sokka, their fingers interlaced together on top on the covers,.

“Best birthday ever?” Zuko asked him.

“Best one yet,” Sokka said. They lay in a blissful quiet, the moon shining through the window. Sokka knew Yue was watching, she had seen a whole show. “Hey Zuko.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember when we first met, you completely overpowered me and didn’t even break a sweat?”

“Yeah why?”

“Because tonight, I just made us even,” Sokka said with a chuckle. Zuko laughed and kissed Sokka’s shoulder.

“Do you want a rematch then?” Zuko asked playfully. Sokka leaned over Zuko and held his arm above his head.

“Do you want to go Fire Prince?” Sokka asked him. Zuko laughed and kissed him response, breaking free from Sokka’s grasp and grabbing him tight. Zuko rolled Sokka onto his back and grabbed his leg before they heard a scratching at the door. They paused as Sokka knew that must be Momo.

“I bet he finished all the crackers,” Sokka said sitting up. “I’ll go see what he wants, maybe he wants a bedtime story.” Still naked, Sokka went to the door and opened it slightly as Momo squeezed through the small gap, paused at the candles and naked Zuko then started to chirrup frantically.

“Whoa, slow down buddy, what are you talking about?” Sokka said. Momo started to chirrup, climbing up Zuko and standing on his head, chirruping and pointing out the window.

“Watching the house?” Sokka said, he grabbed his underwear and quickly put it on, heading to the window where several Dai Li agents stood in front of the house, watching it. “That can’t be good.”

“What is it?”

“There is something going on in this city, why else would there be weird guys watching the house, I think we’re stuck here until the guys get back from the palace,” Sokka said.

“Wait, who are they?” Zuko getting up as well and grabbing clothes.

“I don’t know but they look like trouble, Momo sweep the house and lock the doors,” Sokka said. Momo did a tiny salute before running out of the room, Sokka grabbed clothes to start putting on, strange guards watching the house, unusual and very suspicious. Zuko followed Sokka’ lead, grabbing clothes as they checked the window, more Dai Li agents had arrived and were approaching the door.

“What do we do?” Zuko asked. Sokka thought and remember there was a back window in the bathroom.

“We can sneak out the back, maybe find out why they’re here, it’s like they knew the guys weren’t going to be here tonight,” Sokka said. Zuko could agree. Soon as they were dressed, and Zuko had scooped up Momo, they were out of the bathroom window hiding in some bushes as they started to hear some Dai Li agents talking.

“Get rid of anything that might suggest they are looking for the Bison, notes, maps, clues of any kind, we can’t have them knowing it’s here, bad enough they’re trying to ask about things they shouldn’t be asking about,” one agent said. Sokka gasped.

“They have Appa,” he said.

“What about the new kid that’s been reported to have joined them?”

“Sir…we’ve swept the house, but we think there’s someone nearby, we found candles and…show him Lee,” the agent said as the other agent presented the sake bottle.

“Search the area!” the agent demanded. Sokka sighed, now they were in trouble.

“Well now there’s no way we can get back inside now,” Zuko whispered.

“Yeah…we need a distraction to get away,” Sokka said. “Never thought I’d say this but Zuko, I need you to set fire to something.” Zuko looked around, the only thing that could be set on fire for a distraction was a nearby tree.

“Alright, one the count of three, I fire, we run, one…two…three!” Zuko said as he threw a fireball at the tree. It caught alight as they darted from the bush, running behind the house and down the street.

* * *

Far from the house, Sokka and Zuko found themselves hiding in a small alley behind three houses. Sokka couldn’t believe what he had heard.

“I knew it, I knew there was something off about Ba Sing Se, no one mentions the war, guards are always watching you if you’re not following the status quo and now they have an army of secret police, breaking into people’s houses to stop them from asking important questions like ‘where is my friend’s Sky Bison?’ this city is all wrong,” he said.

“I can help, if you and your friends can’t look for Appa, I will,” Zuko offered.

“You’d help find Appa?” Sokka asked confused.

“Sokka, just tonight, I have given you a ring, declared my love to you, and we’ve had sex, finding Appa is pretty low on the list of surprising things I’d do,” Zuko told him.

“You’re right, but what if you get caught?”

“I won’t, all they’ll hear about is the legendary Blue Spirit being seen in Ba Sing Se, no one will know it’s me,” Zuko said.

“Blue Spirit?” Sokka asked him.

“It’s a long story, just, I promise you I’ll find Appa,” Zuko said, he heard a chirruping as Momo poked his head out of Zuko’s robe where he’d been hiding.

“Momo, think you can help Zuko find Appa, and remember, don’t tell Aang he’s here or what you saw earlier,” Sokka said to Momo. Momo did a little chirp and climbed out of Zuko’s robe and onto Sokka’s shoulder.

“Think it’s safe to go back?” Zuko asked. Sokka shrugged at his question.

“Only one way to find out.” He answered.

* * *

The house was empty when they returned, but everything was still in its place as if no one had come by, except for the sake bottle, that was gone.

“They took my sake!” Sokka exclaimed, slightly offended that his birthday present from Pao had been seized.

“Did you even like that stuff?” Zuko asked.

“It was an acquired taste…oh well, I guess you’ll be going back to your uncle then,” Sokka said. Zuko shook his and pulled Sokka into a hug.

“No, we’ve still got that rematch,” Zuko whispered to him. Sokka giggled and tapped Momo.

“You might want to sleep in the cracker cupboard Momo,” he said. Momo bounded off Sokka and away to the kitchen. Sokka pulled Zuko into a kiss and pulled him back down onto the bed.

* * *

Dawn the next morning, Zuko woke up first. He saw the light shining through and knew he had to leave to get to the tea shop, he quietly started to get dressed, all the candles had burned out and Sokka slept peacefully. He kissed Sokka’s forehead and looked at the ring on his finger, Ozai would kill him for getting engaged, Mai too. He touched the pendant and opened the door. He had no idea if Katara and Aang had returned and started to creep through the house to leave. Suddenly he heard footsteps and froze as Toph wandered by, yawning and stretching her arms.

“Morning Aang,” she mumbled and went into the bathroom. Zuko sighed and started to tiptoe some more towards the door as another door opened and he froze again, he glanced to see Aang walk out, equally tired yawning and stretching. Zuko started to panic as Aang walked past him.

“Morning Toph,” Aang mumbled as he walked past Zuko and into the bathroom. Zuko gasped as he started to tiptoe a little faster to the front door, he opened it and heard another door open. Zuko started to panic some more and darted out the door closing it and running away from the house.

“How did no one see me?” he asked himself confused, he was far from stealthy.

* * *

Inside the house, Sokka woke up, Zuko was gone, he was slightly sad but he understood Zuko had to go, he sat up and admired the ring, he wanted to tell someone but who, who would understand, Suki maybe but she was helping refugees, Jin already knew and Iroh, then he got an idea. A letter to gran, she would understand. He dug around his bag for his writing set and started to pen a letter to gran telling her everything that had been going on, travelling with Zuko and Iroh, the betrothal pendant and the ring, the fortune, his conflict that he had fallen for the son of the Fire Lord but if anyone would understand and know what to do she would. When he had finished the letter, he rolled it up, surely there would be a courier service in the city. He got dressed and left the bedroom, he’d clean up the candles later and went into the kitchen where Aang and Toph were eating and Katara was plating up her breakfast.

“Morning gang, how did the palace go?”

“It went…how was your night?” Katara asked.

“Amazing, you guys have no idea the time I had with Lee, we were having so much fun, right up until the creepy secret police came to the house,” Sokka said. Aang spat out his food in shock.

“The Dai Li came to the house?” he asked.

“Yep, weird thing is, they didn’t take anything,” Sokka said omitting the part about why they were there.

“I bet it was because our of threat, we threatened to tell everyone about the war but Long Feng had us beat with threatening to expel us from the city,” Katara said.

“You see this place is just bad news,” Sokka said.

“And they replaced our guide Joo Dee, but they barely acknowledged it,” Aang added. Sokka glanced at Aang, Joo Dee?

“Joo Dee, the creepy girl with the big smile?” he asked.

“Yeah, it was weird,” Katara replied. Now things were getting weird, and Sokka didn’t like it.


	13. Thirteen

Time was passing slowly in the city of Ba Sing Se, Aang’s mission to find Appa was getting quieter as Zuko started searching at night for clues. Sokka had sent his letter to gran but knew it would be a while before she’d reply, if she even would. One quiet afternoon while Iroh was taking the day off, Sokka was sitting by the canal watching as Katara send three girls down the canal in a flurry of water. He could only imagine what had transpired to get mad enough to use her Waterbending. He examined the ring from Zuko, no had asked about it, he always made sure to wear it on his hand when he was out in the city but wear it on the chain back in the house.

“I wish there was a way I could really express my joy at this,” he said to himself. He stood up and started to walk down the road, what good was it to be in love when you were afraid to shout it out loud?

As he wandered, he spotted Jet wandering along looking slightly confused.

“Jet?” he asked as Jet looked up at him and tilted his head sideways in confusion.

“Sokka, what are you doing here?” Jet asked.

“I live here, where have you been?” Sokka asked him back. Jet shrugged.

“I don’t know, vacation I think, my brain feels really foggy…your sister isn’t around is she?” he asked her.

“You’re lucky she isn’t, she’s still pissed off at you,” Sokka told him. Jet sighed and rubbed his head.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, I think I need to lie down, later Sokka,” Jet said and wandered away. Sokka stood there a little confused, Jet looked so lost, the supposed ‘freedom fighter’ who always had a cause and a hatred of the Fire Nation was stumbling through the street. He started to walk back to the house, still confused by the encounter, but it further confirmed his suspicions that there was something wrong with Ba Sing Se.

* * *

He arrived home where Toph and Katara were relaxing in the living area.

“Hey is Aang around?” Sokka asked.

“He said he was going to the zoo, why?” Katara asked.

“The weirdest thing just happened, I saw Jet but he looked really out of it like he couldn’t remember where he was, he just mumbled something about a vacation and walked away,” Sokka told her.

“That’s weird,” Katara replied.

“Jin had told me he was arrested a few days back for attacking a person in the street,” Sokka said.

“Super weird, were his cronies with him?” Katara asked, Sokka shook his head in response. Another weird thing, Katara thought deeply for a moment.

“I don’t know how long Aang will be or what your plans are, but maybe we interrogate him at some point, currently we’re trying to make posters to help find Appa, when we’re done Aang’s going to distribute them over the city.”

“Not a bad idea,” Sokka said. “Lee and Jin are searching too, but they’re coming up short too.”

“Sokka are we ever going to meet Lee, you talk about him so much?” Katara asked him. Sokka looked down and then back at his sister.

“One day, he’s…not ready to come out just yet,” Sokka said.

“Not ready, this is the Earth Kingdom, we’re a very tolerant society,” Toph pointed out to Sokka.

“Yes, a tolerant society that has a city full of secret police, very tolerant,” Sokka said. “Well for your information, I respect his decision, and you guys should too.”

“Oh we will, but one day Sokka, should things go wrong in this place and we have to leave, we don’t want you leaving him behind,” Katara told him. A thoughtful gesture but Sokka knew it would vanish the moment she discovered who ‘Lee’ was.

* * *

As the evening drew in and the city of Ba Sing Se settled down, Zuko donned his Blue Spirit gear ready to continue the search for Appa. Iroh sat meditating as Zuko opened the door of his room.  
“You’re going to continue your search for the Bison then,” Iroh noted.

“Yes, I made a promise,” Zuko said.

“Zuko, son, tell me, what are you going to do when they discover you, that you rescued the Sky Bison and that you did it for Sokka, what then, you know they would not approve,” Iroh said.

“It doesn’t matter what they think,” Zuko said as he walked towards the front door.

“Oh but it does Zuko, do you think that when they discover that you were not only Sokka’s rescuer but are in fact his betrothed, that they would welcome you with open arms?” Iroh asked him.

“What do you expect me to do?” Zuko asked him.

“You aren’t fully out of your father’s grasp Zuko, there might come a point where you will have to choose between loyalty to Sokka and loyalty to your father…what are you going to pick?” Iroh asked him. Zuko said nothing, but touched the pendant around his neck.

“This is not a question to ask me uncle,” Zuko said and walked out of their small apartment. Iroh sighed.

“Oh it is Zuko, and you will need to make that choice when you come to it,” he muttered.

Zuko stalked the dark streets of Ba Sing Se, he was angry at Iroh for bringing up such a question to him.

“I know what I’d choose,” Zuko said to himself before pausing. Did he? Sokka was the most obvious choice, the correct choice, and yet…no, no, Sokka was the right choice.

“It’s always him,” Zuko muttered to himself as he climbed a roof to get a look of the city. Though he was confident in that he would choose Zuko if the situation would arise, he knew his uncle was right that Katara and Aang would not accept him, Katara especially.

“Perhaps we should be honest,” Zuko said to himself, it was a risk but it would also secure Sokka’s trust in him, to tell them the truth of his feelings, of his love for Sokka. He scanned the area and saw several Dai Li agents were making the rounds, he smiled, time to lay the trap and find out where Appa is being kept. He set up the decoy dummies, ready to get their attention, all he needed was one agent to give him the information. He got into the path of the agent, walking past and knocking him sideways.

“Hey,” the agent said annoyed, Zuko started to run down to his trapped alley as the agent pursued him. He hid, ready to strike as the dummies took the agent’s attention.

“Show yourself,” the agent demanded. Zuko leapt out of the shadows, pinnig the agen to the wall, his blades at their throat.

“Tell me what I need to know and you will live,” Zuko ordered the Dai Li agent in a threatening tone.

“O- Okay, anything, what you want to know?” the agent asked in fright.

“Where is the Sky Bison?” Zuko demanded.

“It’s at the lake,” the agent answered.

“What lake?”

“Lake Laogai, Long Feng ordered that the Bison be kept there,” the agent said shaking as Zuko pressed the blades against the fabric of his collar.

“How do I find the Bison, how do I get it out?” Zuko asked him.

“You can’t get into Laogai without an Earthbender, it’s under the lake,” the agent replied. Zuko loosened his blades on the agent and stood back.

“Leave, now!” Zuko ordered. The agent quickly fled from the alley as Zuko sheathed his blades, now to relay the information.

Up in the Upper Ring, Sokka lay awake in bed, he hadn’t been able to sleep with the weight of Ba Sing Se’s oddities resting on his mind, Momo lay curled up at the end of his bed, sleeping soundly. He sighed and turned as he heard a tapping outside of the window. Climbing out of bed, Sokka went to the window and opened it to see Zuko.

“Zuko, what are you wearing?” Sokka asked.

“Not important, I know where Appa is,” Zuko said. Sokka gasped and pushed the window wider for him to climb in.

“How do you know where he is?” Sokka asked.

“I found a Dai Li agent who was willing to talk, Appa’s being held at a location named Lake Laogai, we can’t get in without an Earthbender though,” Zuko told him.

“Toph’s an Earthbender, she can help us get in,” Sokka said.

“Is that a good idea?” Zuko wondered.

“It’s fine, she’s blind, she’ll just know you as Lee,” Sokka said.

“That makes it slightly better, but what about Aang and Katara?” Zuko asked him.

“I don’t know, I can get them to follow Jet’s trail, maybe find out what happened to Joo Dee, she apparently got replaced,” Sokka said.

“Weird, but it could have something to do with the lake, why else would they keep Appa there,” Zuko suggested.

“Maybe, alright here’s the plan, meet me outside the tea shop tomorrow at noon, I’ll bring Toph for this venture and convince Katara and Aang to find Smellerbee and Longshot and see what happened to Jet and Joo Dee, we’ll go to Lake Laogai and get Appa out,” Sokka said.

“Alright, but one more thing,” Zuko said.

“What is it?”

“After we rescue Appa, we need to tell Aang and Katara about us, about this,” Zuko said touching the pendant. “I don’t want them to think I’d betray you.” Sokka caressed Zuko’s cheek and smiled at him.

“I trust you enough to know you wouldn’t,” he said. Zuko smiled at him, placing his hand over Sokka’s.

“I should go, uncle knew about this, tomorrow at noon,” he said giving Sokka a kiss goodbye. He climbed out the window and put his mask back on and dashed away into the night as Sokka looked out after him.

“We tell them tomorrow,” he said. If only he had gotten a reply back from gran.


	14. Fourteen

The next morning, Sokka readied his bag for Appa’s rescue but his first concern was getting Katara and Aang away, so he could tell Toph his plan. He spotted Katara, Aang, and Toph in the kitchen and walked in.

“You know I just had a thought, I know nothing about Toph here, you guys must know each other pretty well by now,” Sokka pointed out to them.

“I guess that is true, we did meet in Gaoling,” Katara said.

“Well I think Toph and I should get to know each other a little more, why don’t we go and do something, you can show me some cool Earthbending tricks,” Sokka suggested. Toph narrowed her eyes and stood up.

“Alright,” she agreed. Sokka stood there surprised, that was easy.

“Well we’re going to go look for Smellerbee and Longshot later,” Katara said. There was a knock at the door and Aang went to open it.

“Joo Dee!” he said surprised.

“Hello, I just came by to let you all know why I’ve been absent lately,” she said walking in. Sokka stared at her and was visibly confused, this wasn’t the Joo Dee that greeted him when he and Zuko arrived in Ba Sing Se.

“You’re not the Joo Dee I met when I got here,” Sokka said.

“You see, the King invited me to Lake Laogai and it is a great honour to be invited,” she said ignoring his comment. Lake Laogai, Sokka’s suspicions were confirmed and he tapped Toph on the shoulder.

“Well Toph, we should get going, we’ll see you guys later,” Sokka said, Toph followed him outside and as soon as the door was shut, he turned to her.

“Alright full disclosure, we’re about to commit several crimes,” he told her.

“What kind of crimes?” she asked suspiciously.

“You’ll know when we meet the other person joining us, come on we have to go to to the Artisan Quarter,” he said and they started walking. They headed down into the Artisan Quarter where Zuko was waiting for them outside the tea shop.

“You’re here good, Zuko this is Toph, Toph meet Zuko,” Sokka said.

“Zuko…like the one that tried to capture Aang?” Toph asked them.

“Yes and we’ll explain more on the way, we’re going to Lake Laogai to break Appa out and the reason I didn’t want Aang and Katara knowing is because of Zuko here,” Sokka told her.

“He’s Lee, your boyfriend is Zuko!” she exclaimed.

“Technically he’s my fiancé, not important, we have to get going,” Sokka said.

“We can’t be gone too long though, uncle is in the middle of working out plans for his new tea shop, word of his skills got around and he’s been offered the chance to open his shop in the Upper Ring, Zuko replied.

“It’ll be a quick job,” Sokka said.

“So why am I needed then?” Toph asked him.

“We can’t get in without an Earthbender,” Zuko explained.

“So you’re using me, great,” Toph said annoyed.

“Call it a bonding experience Toph, we’ll play twenty questions on the way, Aang said you’re a master so you’ll be perfect for this rescue mission,” Sokka told her. Toph smiled at the compliment.

“Alright I will help, for Aang and Appa,” Toph said.

“That’s the spirit, let’s get going,” Sokka said.

Lake Laogai was a fair walk, but Sokka knew that they could get there and be out before sunset. He wondered why it was important that they keep Appa there, and send Joo Dee, and how it connected to the weirdness of the city. Even Toph had to agree it was strange after everything Sokka had told her.

“More than one Joo Dee seems strange, I could tell when Aang claimed she was replaced there was something off, my parents shielded me from a lot of things back home, this place must be a hundred times worse,” Toph said to him.

“Every family has its secrets, I know mine does,” Zuko said.

“Even mine, gran was from the Northern Water tribe and left for Katara’s Waterbending Master for our grandpa, that was a story and a half,” Sokka said.

“I guess I’m the family secret now,” Zuko theorised.

“Only until we tell them the truth,” Sokka said.

“So you were in the house that morning, leaving, like I knew I could sense another person, another bender but I made a guess to say Aang because I didn’t want to spook you,” Toph said.

“You I can understand, Aang mistaking me for you was the weird part,” Zuko commented.

“Aang’s not a morning person,” Sokka commented. They reached the lake where it was peaceful and quiet. “Alright, if you need to get in using Earthbending skills then…somewhere in the water is the entrance.”

“I can check,” Toph said going to the edge of the lake and pressing her feet firmly to the ground. “Yep, there is a formation in the water,” she confirmed and threw her arms up, suddenly the water parted as a rocky pathway was revealed and a hatch going down.

“Wow, nice work,” Zuko said impressed.

“I am a master of Earthbending, I learned from the best, myself,” Toph said proudly. The three of them went to the hatch, a long way down.

“Alright…here goes, I hope you’re here Appa, otherwise we walked into a trap,” Sokka said and let Toph go down first. The three of them descended into the secret underground prison, Toph used her senses to try and get a feel for routes and any signs of life.

“There are people here, but they’re far away,” Toph said. Zuko prepared his mask and pulled out his two swords.

“For something as big as Appa, he’ll need a big prison, we’ll start east Toph how good is your hearing?” Zuko asked.

“Sharp, I can hear a good distance,” she answered.

“I need you to scout ahead, get a layout, listen for echoes, voices, sounds of pipes,” he told her.

"Can do, any vibrations that don't seem right, I'll let you know," she agreed.

“Lead the way then,” he said. They followed Toph who would occasionally stop to feel the walls or the ground, looking for vibrations to give her a clue of where to go. As they rounded a corner, she held her arm out.

“Guards, at least two, guarding a door at the far end,” she said. Sokka peeked around the corner to see them standing beside the door with spears.

“Alright, Zuko, take them out,” he said. Zuko leapt into the shadows, creeping his way towards the guards. Sokka watched in awe as Zuko stealthily took out the guards and left them knocked out on the ground, he gestured for them to come towards the door.

“Impressive, you’ve done this before,” Sokka guessed.

“I once saved Aang from captives, mostly so I could capture him,” Zuko said.

“Of course you did,” Sokka said, of course he’d done something like that in the past. They opened the door and Sokka smiled to see Appa lying there, curled up.

“Appa buddy,” Sokka said running to him and giving him the biggest hug he could. Appa responded by giving Sokka a lick with his tongue and then recoiling at the sight of Zuko. “It’s okay buddy, Zuko’s a friend, he’s here to help you,” Sokka assured him as Zuko used his swords to cut the chains.

“We don’t have too much time guys, I think there’s someone coming,” Toph said as she sensed movement.

“Oh this is bad…okay Zuko, you need to take Appa and get out of here while Toph and I fight our way out,” Sokka said.

“Are you sure?” Zuko asked him.

“We can defend Appa while you guys get away, Appa’s been locked up for a while and he needs to build up his strength to get out,” Sokka told him. Zuko nodded and kissed Sokka.

“Alright, we’ll meet you when you get out, and no more secrets,” Zuko said.

“No more secrets, alright Appa, Zuko’s going to take good care of you, you’ll be back with Aang soon enough,” Sokka said patting Appa. Appa growled in response as Zuko climbed onto his back. Toph readied her stance as Sokka grabbed his boomerang and the sword on his waist.

“The Bison’s getting away, get him!” a Dai Li agent shouted just as Toph threw up two mounds of earth to trip the agents who countered with earth mounds to stabilise themselves. Appa slowly started to take flight as Sokka and Toph started to fight the agents.

* * *

Once Appa had safely flown out of the hole at the top of the prison, Toph started to pull out her powerful moves as Sokka threw the boomerang to distract and knock the Dai Li agents from moving their hands.

“Let’s go!” Sokka cried as the two of them started to run, the agents giving chase.

“Sound the alarm, intruders in the lake!” one agent shouted. A siren started to blare as they ran, more agents pouring into the corridors but Toph would throw them side with summoned walls and boulders.

“There, up ahead!” Sokka cried as they saw the ladder ahead. Toph threw up one final wall of earth, surrounding them and the ladder. She started to climb, Sokka following quick as they climbed out of the hatch, more agents were now outside of the prison, surrounding the lake.

“We might be in a world of trouble,” Sokka said. Toph stood her ground and rose her hand.

“We keep moving,” she said, just as suddenly a whoosh of strong winds started to blow the agents sideways as Aang and Katara arrived with Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot in tow.

“We got backup, keep doing what you’re doing Toph,” Sokka called as he threw the boomerang and started to charge a Dai Li agent who was holding a spear. Katara began to summon waves to block the agents as Aang started to use what little Earthbending skills he had learned to help Toph. Sokka saw in the air Appa, flying further beyond the lake to the other side.

“Sokka, why are you here?” Katara cried in surprise as she saw her brother knock out an agent.

“Toph and I rescued Appa, I see you figured it out,” Sokka said as Aang blew all of the agents into the lake.

“Joo Dee and Jet both mentioned Lake Laogai so we headed here, did you get Appa out?” Aang asked him.

“Yeah, we need to go south, he’ll be in the woods there and when you get there please…keep an open mind,” Sokka said knowing Zuko would be there.


	15. Fifteen

Sokka and Toph led them around the lake and into the woods, they had managed to lose sight of the Dai Li agents who were now climbing out of the lake to report to Long Feng. As they made their way into the woods, Sokka could feel the nerves wracking him, knowing in merely moments, Katara was going to learn the truth of him and Zuko. Now he really wished gran had written back to him.

“Appa!” Aang called out. A growl answered as they ran towards the sound, Sokka ran ahead, Katara following behind as they entered a clearing where Zuko was patting Appa’s head.

“Zuko!” Sokka cried. Zuko turned and ran to Sokka, throwing his arms around and kissing him.

“You’re okay, when I saw the swarm of agent I-,” Zuko began.

“WHAT THE FUCK SOKKA!” Katara screamed out, Sokka knew she would be mad but he wasn’t expecting that kind of language.

“Damn, I knew Sokka had game but I wasn’t expecting his travel buddy,” Smellerbee commented.

“Katara, before you-,” Sokka said before a blast of water threw him into a tree and froze him there.

“”You lying, evil, manipulative little traitor!” she shouted at him. “All this time, you’ve been talking about Lee this, Lee that, Lee’s so cool, Lee helped fix my arm, Lee borrowed my hair tie, and it was HIM!”

“I said try to keep an open mind,” Sokka said.

“Katara please-,” Zuko said

“NO!” Katara shouted pointing at him. “You don’t get to talk.” Zuko closed his mouth and petted Appa again who responded by licking him.

“Appa seems grateful for your help Zuko…you were just helping right, this isn’t a trap, last time you helped, you wanted to capture me,” Aang said as he gave Appa a hug.

“No, I offered to help, for Sokka,” Zuko answered.

“I can’t believe you, you and him, him and…what the hell is that around your neck?” Katara asked pointing to the pendant. Zuko protectively touched the pendant, holding on to it.

“A betrothal pendant,” Sokka said meekly.

“Betrothal!” Katara exclaimed.

“And on my hand here, Zuko got me an engagement ring…we’re engaged,” Sokka said. Katara started to seethe with rage as she pulled more water from her water skin and turned them into ice shards aiming them at Zuko.

“You’re going to marry the Prince of the Fire nation!” she shouted.

“I knew it!” Jet said and pulled his swords out. “I knew it from the moment I saw your scar, but you said you were called Lee and Sokka said the same, but then your uncle slipped up and called you Zuko, I did a little investigation and of course, a traitor and an enemy in our midst, I knew I was right to attack you.” Sokka struggled against the ice as Zuko started to back away from Appa.

“Katara, let me explain, without him I wouldn’t be here in Ba Sing Se, he saved my life!” Sokka cried.

“He is responsible for everything we’ve been through!” Katara shouted.

“Katara, please, don’t hurt him!” Sokka cried struggling some more as the ice began to crack. Aang saw the tension rising, he knew if Zuko got cornered he might try to defend himself, he slammed his fist into the ground, pushing Jet and Katara back from Zuko with a blast of wind.

“Enough!” Aang shouted. “Like it or not, and I don’t like that it is, Zuko and Sokka saved Appa.”

“Please let me explain everything, if you listen to my case, you can make your judgement after,” Zuko pleaded as Sokka broke free of the ice finally.

“Let him talk, please,” Sokka said. Katara glared at Zuko and crossed her arms.

“You get one chance Zuko, go!” she ordered. Zuko breathed out, touching the pendant and looking at all of them.

“Destiny is something I believe in strongly, I have never been one to question it, until Sokka fell into my path hurt, a fortune teller told me a Wolf would fall into my path and liberate me for our destinies are linked. I have been shackled by the binds of loyalty, to my father, to my honour, to the Fire Nation, but my eyes have been opened thanks to Sokka, I didn’t think that until we spent time travelling together that I could see another person care for me, comfort me when I was hurt, when I was almost-, never mind, someone who was afraid like me to fully open up. When we were in the desert, and he took my hand, something changed and it was like I had finally realised I had it all wrong…I love your brother Katara, and…I realise by choosing Sokka, I am defying my entire loyalty to the Fire Nation, but I don’t care, that ring, this pendant, it’s more than a vow, it’s a promise, a declaration and should there ever come a time when I have to choose between him and my father, I know which one I’d choose,” Zuko said to them. Quiet fell over the clearing, Aang’s jaw dropped, Katara only glared as did Jet, and Smellerbee and Longshot were both stunned.

“He’s telling the truth, there’s a sincerity there,” Toph said. Sokka walked towards Zuko and hugged him. Sokka glanced at Katara who could only turn away.

“I cannot accept this,” she said and started to walk away. Sokka sighed as he watched his sister walk away from the group. Jet followed her leaving the group. Aang could sense her pain, but also the pain she had just caused Sokka by rejecting them.

“Give her time Sokka, come on let’s find a safe spot for Appa to hide,” Aang said and climbed onto Appa’s back, everyone climbed on as Appa started to fly out of the forest and further into the mountainous regions.

* * *

Katara and Jet walked back to the Upper Ring in silence, when they finally reached the house, she turned to Jet.

“I can’t believe him, I can’t believe you either,” Katara said opening the door.

“Am I still on your shit list, I have tried to change,” Jet said as they walked in.

“It’s not about you Jet, it’s about everything Zuko stands for and Sokka is just ‘yeah whatever, his family are genocidal maniacs but I can forgive all that because love’ makes me sick,” she said.

“I don’t think that’s the full reason but you’re pretty pissed at him,” Jet pointed out.

“It’s just…we were separated for weeks and then to know that Sokka lied about who he was with for all that time, I can’t forgive that and to know he fell in love with Zuko, I can’t forgive that either,” Katara said to him, Jet glanced down for a moment and then followed her to the living area.

“Engaged in a few weeks, your brother is slightly whack I’ll give him that, but do you really want to sever your relationship with him over this?” Jet asked her.

“Wouldn’t you if it was your brother?” she asked him. Jet walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“I can’t say really, but it’s up to you,” he said. Katara could feel tears brimming and as she let one free, Jet wiped it away. “You’re a good person Katara, you’ll know what to do.” Katara sighed and hugged Jet, something she knew felt wrong but also necessary.

“You’re not such an ass Jet,” she said looking up at him, somehow she felt like that girl in the woods again when she first met him, infatuated. She leaned up and kissed Jet, as Jet wrapped his arms around her, she lost herself, running her hands through his hair, tugging at his coat, catching her breath every so often before locking her lips to his again. She pulled back from Jet, reeling from the kiss as she regained her senses.

“Um, well I uh…this is awkward,” she said blushing. Jet chuckled awkwardly.

“I should probably leave, don’t completely write your brother off, you two probably need to have a long talk,” he said.

“Yeah…thanks,” she said as Jet started to leave. As soon as the door closed, she threw her arms up in frustration and flopped down onto one of the large cushions.

“Oh why am I such an idiot?” she asked herself, kissing Jet, knowing Aang had a huge crush on her. “But I liked it…maybe this was how Sokka felt with Zuko,” she said to herself. Perhaps she did get it slightly, even if she didn’t accept it.

“Oh gran, I wish you were here for advice,” she said, gran always knew what to do.


	16. Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update was slow but I had to deal with a couple personal things, hope you all enjoy it.

Late in the evening as Aang, Zuko and Sokka covered Appa with a large green mossy blanket to keep him safe from bystanders, they plotted their next move. Smellerbee and Longshot had returned to the Artisan’s Quarter to find Jet.

“We’ve freed Appa, now we have to tell the Earth King exactly what is going on,” Sokka said.  
“I don’t know if it’s possible, all of this will be hard to explain,” Aang said.

“True, but we have witnesses, Jet, Appa himself, that Long Feng dude can’t have an explanation for everything,” Sokka said.

“What about the drill?” Toph suggested.

“Drill?” Zuko asked.

“Yeah, Azula tried to breach the outer wall with a drill, there’s no way they could have cleaned all that up, and that’s our key piece,” Aang said.

“My sister is nearby, oh this is bad,” Zuko said, he had no idea Azula was nearby.  
“How bad?” Sokka asked.

“I’m heir apparent, but she’s the favourite, she’s manipulative as anything, she’d steal my throne if she could and she will,” Zuko said to them.

“They did retreat after we stopped the drill, it’s amazing what backed up rock and water slurry can do to a machine,” Toph said to them.

“So we take the King there, is it possible, I don’t know if he’d be willing to listen,” Aang said.

“That’s why we need Katara, she’d be able to convince the Earth King,” Sokka said.

“You talk to her then Sokka, you’re the one she’s mad at,” Aang said.

“I will, we need to get back to the house and talk to her and then we storm the Earth King’s palace,” Sokka said.

“I have to go talk to my uncle first, I should warn him about Azula,” Zuko said.

“Smart, alright, we head back to the Upper Ring, I’ll talk to Katara, you talk to your uncle, we’ll all meet at the house and go to the palace,” Sokka said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Aang agreed.

* * *

Everyone returned to the Upper Ring and Zuko split from the group to find his uncle. As they returned to the house Katara was sitting in the living area, she saw Sokka and turned away, angry but also ashamed.

“Guys go practice some Earthbending or something while I talk to my sister,” Sokka told Aang and Toph. They both glanced at each other and awkwardly sidled away out of the room as Sokka approached Katara. She stared at her feet as he sat beside her.

“I know you’re mad and you can be mad all you want, but let me explain and you just…listen…I never planned for this, you know me I like to plan, I always have a plan, Zuko was never part of it until I tripped over that rock. And I get it, I know how you feel, but my feelings are real and his are too, Zuko’s not a bad person, he’s made some bad decisions but he wants to make things right, he helped save Appa and told me where to find him, if he hadn’t gone looking for that information, we’d still be looking, I made the pendant because I knew it was real, I even wrote to gran about him, because I had to tell somebody, I knew you wouldn’t approve,” Sokka said to her. There was a moment of silence between them before Katara finally broke it.

“I kissed Jet,” she said. Sokka’s stared at her in surprise, eyebrows raised.

“You did what now?”

“I kissed him, right over there, just planted one right on him, like I was that girl in the woods again, I don’t know why, he was being nice,” she told him. Sokka started to laugh loudly and fell back. “Why are you laughing?”

“Because we’re hypocrites, the both of us,” he said. Katara giggled and started to laugh as well.

“I guess we are, kissing guys the other one disapproves of, if gran could see us now,” she said.

“She’d get it, are you going to hate Zuko for all eternity because that’s what we’re looking at here, can’t fight destiny on this one,” Sokka said to her.

“I need time Sokka, in my eyes Zuko is still the evil little fireball that chased us to the North Pole, what made you change your opinion?” Katara asked.

“The night in the desert where we threw my boomerang, he said I was a cool guy, and he was sincere, there was this gleam in his eyes and for a moment, I wasn’t seeing the Banished Prince I was just seeing Zuko, and that’s when I felt it,” Sokka told her.

“Must have been a really special moment,” Katara agreed.

“Yeah, but what about Aang, you know how he feels about you,” Sokka said to her. Katara sighed.

“I know, but I don’t know how I feel about Aang, he’s my friend and I care for him, but…I don’t get the butterflies like I do with Jet, I’m so shallow,” she said.

“You’re not shallow, it’s understandable, and you have plenty of time to figure it out,” Sokka said. Katara sighed and nudged Sokka’s shoulder.

“You’re right, sometimes you can be so smart,” she told him.

“I can be, but right now we have to go tell the Earth King about the war, and Appa, and this drill Aang mentioned, there is no way this guy can’t be so blind to these things,” Sokka said standing up.

“You’re right, I’ll go leading the charge then,” Katara said.

“You are the headstrong one and the Waterbender,” Sokka pointed out. They left the living area to the front porch where Aang and Toph were waiting.

* * *

As the gang headed to the palace, Zuko caught up with them, out of breath from running.

“I’m here, I’m here I’m…oh why am I so out of breath?” Zuko asked himself.

“Are you alright?” Aang asked him. Zuko caught his breath and composed himself.

“Alright, I’ve informed uncle of Azula’s possible presence, he is being extra vigilant now that he has his new tea shop, are we all set?” he asked them. Everyone nodded, they were ready. “Then let’s go.”

The doors of the throne blasted open as everyone approached the Earth King who was sat with his bear. The Dai Li jumped into defence as Katara and Aang approached them.

“Your highness I am the Avatar and it is important that I speak with you immediately,” Aang declared.

“If you just give us five minutes of your time, we’ll lower our weapons and explain to you the truth of everything that is going on,” Katara said. Long Feng laughed and turned to the King.

“My liege do not listen to these rabble-rousers’,” he began before Bosco started to wander down towards Aang and start nuzzling him.

“Now hold on Long Feng, Bosco might be onto something, he never likes to nuzzle strangers, I will give them ten minutes, but only because Bosco likes the uh Avatar is it?” the Earth King said.

“Yes your highness, the Dai Li have been hiding from you the truth which is that outside of Ba Sing Se, a war between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation has been waging for almost a century, Sozin’s Comet is going to pass by at the end of the summer and Fire Lord Ozai will use it full conquer the Earth Kingdom, it is really important that you gather your forces to mount an offensive, we will only have one chance on the day of the Eclipse to weaken the Fire Nation,” Aang told the Earth King. He was quiet for a moment before laughing.  
“What a story, but there is no war outside of Ba Sing Se, if there was I know that Long Feng would inform me,” he said.

“Exactly your highness, now I believe your ten minutes is up,” Long Feng said. A blast of fire shot through the air startling everyone as Zuko walked forward.

“My name is Zuko Okada, Banished Prince of the Fire Nation, my father is Fire Lord Ozai, I was tasked with finding the Avatar and returning him to my father but my loyalty lay elsewhere than the throne of the Fire Nation, what Aang says is true and both he and I should be proof of the war out there and I know that Long Feng here stole Appa and hid him to keep the Avatar from finding out the truth,” he said.

“A Firebender, get him!” Long Feng ordered. Dai Li began to advance as Aang pushed them back with a force of wind.

“Can’t you see it your highness, Long Feng has been lying this whole time, he stole Appa and kept him prisoner underneath Lake Laogai which is a facility to brainwash the citizens who dare step out of line,” Aang told the King.

“What is the evidence for this?” the Earth King asked.

“Appa himself, he would recognise his own kidnapper,” Aang said. Long Feng laughed again at the accusation.

“Listen to this, I never did steal his Sky Bison, it probably just ran away,” he said with a chuckle. Zuko gave Long Feng a curious look.

“How do you know Appa is a Sky Bison?” he asked suspiciously. Long Feng paused, uttering a series of nonsense.

“You would only know what Appa is if you had seen him,” Aang said pulling out a small bison-shaped whistle. He blew on the whistle as a moment of silence struck the air before Appa burst through the door coming to land behind the group. He growled at Long Feng who recoiled in horror.

“That’s a Sky Bison!” exclaimed the Earth King. “And you kidnapped him, Long Feng why would you do that?”

“That’s not all, there’s a very real threat to Ba Sing Se, if you’ll come with us to the outer wall, you can find the drill that the Fire Nation used to try and break the wall to infiltrate the city,” Katara said.

“Hmm, well this is very strange, I was told that there was nothing wrong with the outer wall,” the Earth King said.

“We can show it to you, if you climb on Appa, you can see for yourself what your ‘friend’ Long Feng is hiding,” Appa said. The Earth King turned to Bosco.

“What do you say Bosco, do you want to ride on a Sky Bison?” he asked. Bosco growled in response.


End file.
